Surface Rising
by alwayssmilingsam
Summary: Jonah and Thera make a discovery that will have far reaching consequences
1. Chapter 1

**It's been a looooong time since I wrote my one and only SG1 fic but since Sanctuary was cancelled I went back to my SG1 dvds to get my Amanda Tapping fix and remembered why I loved this series so much. Yes, I know there have been heaps of Beaneath the Surface fics written - well there is a good reason for it - it is such a damn good shippy episode. Anyway here is my contribution to the pile. Seriously, if you are not a Sam/Jack shipper you will hate this - if however, you are, read on! Also thanks to Chartruesian who I now bow down to as the Goddess of all things grammatical.**

**Spoilers: Beaneath the Surface, although very much AU from there**

**Disclaimer - own nothing**

Thera felt his warmth as he lay down on the narrow cot behind her. She loved it when Jonah came to her at night like this. They did nothing any more physical than hold each other when in her bed, they saved their more hurried, amorous activites for a secluded spot behind one of the massive boilers and away from prying eyes. While Thera most definitely enjoyed their hurried couplings she felt a sense of peace and 'rightness' when he simply held her. When he held her she knew their relationship was more than just physical release, they were conected in a deep and emotional way, she knew witout a doubt that she and Jonah were meant to be together, forever.

She felt his warm hand sneak under the bulky, orange jacket that provided each of the workers with barely enough warmth, he lightly caressed her stomach and began to move his hand upward to her sensitive breasts. She gasped as his knuckle gently brushed against her nipple.

"Sorry." He muttered into her neck and moved his hand towards her stomach once more. "You're changing."

"Hmmmm " Thera a responded, not really understanding what he was talking about as she was on the cusp of drifting off to sleep.

"Your body. It is changing." Jonah said with a mixture of awe and bewilderment. "Feel." He gently took her hand and placed it on her stomach. Thera immediately knew what Jonah was talking about, beneath her hand was a rounded firmness that had not been there a few weeks ago. She twisted her head so she could look at Jonah. Even in the dim light Jonah could see the fear in her eyes. "You hadn't noticed?" he asked quietly.

She shook her head, the fear remaining. "You know how little time we have in the showers – I didn't….I ….there was barely eough time to wash let alone notice changes." She explained quietly.

"Hey, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. " He smiled wanting to put her mind at ease and the worry in her eyes began to disappear. "I will just have to take it upon myself to keep a constant watch on you. Just in case there are more changes, you understand." He grinned at her and the last of her worry eased.

"Are you planning to sleep with your hand on my stomach each night?"

"It's going to be a tough job, but for you, I will make the sacrifice." He teased.

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Two weeks later Jonah and Thera were sitting in the dimmly lit eating area. Jonah's back was against the cold wall and Thera was nestled between his thighs, her back to his chest. Thera looked into her bowl of unappetising gruel and craved…something. She wasn't sure what it was her body wanted but it certainly wasn't this sloppy grey mush.

Jonah finish his pitiful food and placed the bowl on the ground bedside him and slipped his hand onto Thera's stomach. Even through the thick jacket he could feel the growing hardness of Thera's stomach. He would never let her know but he was beginning to worry about her. He was fairly certain he had never heard of one of the workers stomachs growing over time like this. As he wondered what they should do he felt a small movement under his hand.

Sudden shock at what he was feeling, mixed with clear understanding. He leaned forward and whispered in Thera's ear. "It's a baby."

Thera turned to look at him.

"Don't ask me how I know – I just do. The reason your stomach is getting bigger – it's because there is a baby growing in there." Jonah spoke with such certainty that it didn't occur to Thera to question how he could possibly know that.

"But there are no babies – no children. I've never even known…."

"I know." Jonah cut her off not liking where her thoughts were going, his own having gone there already. "Just don't say anything." He watched as Carlin made his way towards them. "To anyone." He emphasised quietly as Carlin sat opposite them. He didn't like where his thoughts were going, the fact that neither of them had ever seen a baby or child amongst the workers concerned him more than he would ever let Thera know. All he knew for certain was that it was his job to protect Thera and their child and he would do everything in his power to ensure no harm ever came to either of them. Now all he had to do was come up with a plan. For some reason his brain kept repeating 'plan B, when does plan ever work', but damned if he knew what it meant.

Carlin began a flow of chatter that required very little input from either Jonah or Thera, which was good because neither was capable of coherent conversation. Both were lost in thought about the tiny life growing within Thera's body and unbeknownst to the other their thoughts were almost identical, awe, wonder and excitement mixed with a fairly healthy dose of fear and a strange feeling that it shouldn't be happening because it wasn't allowed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow the response to this story has been overwhelming - thank you so much.**

General George Hammond read Major Griffs report for the third time. Major Griff had been very thorough in his exploration of P3R-118 and there was literally no sign of his people, but even more so than the report in front of him George Hammonds gut was telling him there was a lot more to this situation than met the eye. His gut was telling him his flagship team was on that planet somewhere and administrator Caulder knew a lot more than he was letting on.

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It wasn't often he got to go off world, but when he did, he fully understood the 'rush' that Col. O'Neill always spoke of – it was a heady feeling, one he tampered down quickly as he stepped down from the gate to be greeted by the administrator.

"General Hammond – it is a pleasure to finally meet you in person, I just wish it had been under better circumstances." Caulder effused insincerely. George Hammond had had several very unsatisfying radio discussions with the administrator, his dislike of the man in front of him increased now that he had met him.

General Hamond waited a few seconds before replying. He always found a few seconds of silence made people feel very uncomfortable and you could read them far more easily when they were uncomfortable. "Yes, the circumstances are very troubling." Caulder looked slightly put off at the older man's tone.

Caulder eyed the SG teams behind General Hammond cautiously. "You did not need to bring so many of your people for protection, you have my assurance you are perfectly safe here."

General Hammond bit back the immediate retort that sprang to mind and merely replied, "I'm afraid it is standard operating procedure when I travel of world." He lied smoothly. In honesty SG teams 3,5 and 9 were there to implement a detailed search, and hopefully rescue, plan.

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Jonah didn't know what to do. He knew he had to protect Thera and their child, but from what, he wasn't sure and of how to do it he was even less sure. These were feelings that did not sit well with him. He was a man of action, if he was faced with a problem he found a solution but for this problem he was essentially solutionless. They were trapped under who knew how much ice which meant escape to the surface would be a death sentence for them all. He couldn't hide Thera within the tunnels, she had made herself far too useful to Brenna for her disappearance not to be noticed immediately. If only he knew why he had the overwhelming feeling that no-one could know about the baby.

Jonah looked over at Carlin who was working near him. Perhaps the younger man might be able to come up with a solution or at the very least put some of Jonah's ever growing list of worries to rest. He had been toying with the idea of sharing the secret with Carlin for a couple of weeks. He didn't want Thera to worry so he hadn't shared any of his concerns with her but he knew it was a problem he wasn't going to be able to solve by himself.

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Teal'c lay on the bed in the infirmary, his eyes closed but his senses very much on alert. He had no idea how long he and his teammates had been held prisoner in the underground tunnels and for weeks now little snatches of information had been returning to his memory. He also knew that his friends were not experiencing the same memory flashes otherwise they would have sought him out. As it was, Daniel Jackson was the only one of his team he had even seen in the last few weeks. Teal'c knew it would be up to him to come up with a plan to free them. Step one had been to get himself removed from the work detail and into the infirmary. He remembered the infirmary was on the same level as the surface, not that the workers knew that.

Just as Teal'c was about to put the next step of his plan into action he heard the distinct sound of Tauri weapons fire and saw Major Griff enter the infirmary, followed closely by the rest of SG 9. Perhaps the need for the rest of his plan would not be required after all.

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"I think we should tell Carlin." Jonah whispered as they sat on the ground to eat at the end of their shift.

Thera turned to look at Jonah surprised. He had been so adamant that he didn't think anyone should know about the baby and she respected his opinion even though deep down she had wanted to tell Carlin almost as soon as Jonah had realised what was happening. She knew she loved Jonah and that he was her life mate, but she had feelings for Carlin too, certainly not the same feelings she had for Jonah but she felt very protective and sisterly towards him.

"Okay." She said simply.

Carlin walked over and sat opposite them just as he did every night. "They took that big guy…Tor? Off to the infirmary again – said he was nightsick," he paused for a moment as if thinking, "he didn't seem nightsick to me but he kept muttering SG1. Does that mean anything to either of you?"

Jonah and Thera looked up at him, startled, when he said 'SG1'. "From your reactions I will take that as a yes. So what do you think it means? "

Jonah remained quiet. "I don't know, but I know it means a lot to me – it's really important to me." Thera said softly.

"Yeah." Jonah said equally as quietly as he handed Thera the uneaten portion of his food, something he had instinctively been doing since he realised she was having a baby.

Carlin watched his actions. "Why do you do that?"

"What?" Jonah asked.

"Give Thera half your food. Every meal you wait until she has finished and then you give her half your food."

Jonah looked around to make sure no-one would be able to hear what he was about to say. "Thera is going to have a baby."

Carlin looked at them in shock. He had so many questions he wanted to ask but before he could voice any of them there came the sound of men shouting from inside Brenna's office and then her door burst open and men in green uniforms and guns burst through.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for taking so long to update but I have been working nights since last week. This is kind of a setup chapter but I have the whole story drafted out so there is plenty of Sam/Jack love to come I promise.**

There was chaos everywhere, one of the men in green had fired some kind of weapon at the cavern roof, everyone screamed expecting snow and ice to fall in and kill them all but instead, rays of warm sunlight shone through. Someone yelled they had been deceived and all hell broke loose. Jonah looked around him, his immediate instinct had been to protect Thera, who knew what this angry crowd was capable of?

He ushered Thera to their place behind the boiler. "Wait here until I come for you."

"What! No!" She protested.

"Yes!" He was equally as vehement in his response. "I am going to go and see what is going on and try and calm things down." He gently placed his hand on her stomach. "It will be easier if I am not worried about the two of you."

Thera wanted to protest but she knew Jonah, with his firm leadership, would be able to help and she didn't want to make his job any harder. She quickly kissed him and agreed.

Jonah hadn't wanted to leave her but his need to keep Thera and their child safe overrode all else. He began moving through his people offering calming words and a promise to find out what was going on. It didn't take him long to realise he needed to take a different approach. Jonah stood up on the edge of the fire pit and placed two fingers in his mouth and blew. He had no idea how he knew to make that sound but it was certainly effective. A hush began to fall over the crowd at the unfamiliar sound.

"Obviously everything is not as it seems," Jonah addressed the crowd. "As long as everyone remains calm we can get to the bottom of this. I am going to go and speak to them." He indicated the soldiers with his head. "As soon as I know what is going on I will tell you." Jonah was grateful that everyone now seemed have fallen into a terrified silence. As he got down from the fire pit he spotted Carlin and walked over to him. "Thera is waiting behind boiler six. Can you get her and keep these people calm."

"Sure." Carlin paused before speaking again. "Jonah, be careful okay?"

"Yeahsureyoubetcha." Jonah walked off leaving a bewildered Carlin staring after him, wondering what the hell he had just said.

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George Hammond watched as the tall man in the orange coat approached SG 4. There was no mistaking Col. O'Neill, he may not currently know who he is but his leadership qualities were obviously intrinsic after the display he had just witnessed in the cavern. Not to mention the nonchalant swagger the man used when he was at his most cautious.

"Take me to your leader." Jonah said as he approached the first group of soldiers. George Hammond smiled as he heard the tone – yes some things were definitely intrinsic.

Hammond stepped forward. "I am General George Hammond from Earth." The bald man said hoping to spark some small piece of recognition.

"Nice to meet you George." Jonah held out his hand. "Jonah, care to share why your men here came in and started shooting up the place and causing a near riot?"

"We certainly didn't mean to scare anyone, however four of my people have been kept on this planet against their will and we have come to take them home.",

Jonah stood there looking at the general, trying to read whether he spoke the truth. Eventually he spoke again. "So have you found them?"

Hammond looked at the man in front of him, obviously Jack's memory had been altered and he knew he would have to tread carefully. Teal'c had already informed them that O'Neill, Carter and Jackson had no recollection of their former lives. "I have seen two of them, I have no doubt the other two are down there somewhere." He indicated the cavern with his head.

"Right so you have your four people back, what exactly are you planning to do with the rest of us, it doesn't take a genius to work out we have been held captive down here and lied to." Jonah said bitterly.

"We have many allies who I'm sure would welcome you all but until that time we have a place we call the Beta site that can comfortably house …your people."

"The Beta site you say? And this would be located on another planet?" Jonah asked sarcastically, clearly not believing a word the General said.

"Yes"

Once again Jonah found himself looking at the man in front of him and wondering if he could be trusted. "And how exactly do we get to this 'other planet'? You got a big honkin' spaceship?"

"No. We would travel there by other means." The General hedged.

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Three hours later Jonah had travelled to another planet. He still couldn't quite believe it but after seeing the giant puddle of water these strangers expected his people to blindly walk into he had insisted on ensuring it was safe for them. Jonah shook his head in amazement again- another planet!

An hour after his return the first of the workers began evacuation to the Beta site. Jonah had had virtually no time to speak to Thera and Carlin except to enlist their help in getting everyone to the gate. It took nearly two hours to get everyone out. Most had been terrified when confronted with the giant circle of water. Jonah had spent the whole time calmly telling people that he had been there and had returned safely. Finally the only three workers left on the planet were Jonah, Thera and Carlin, which is why Jonah was shocked when the giant puddle suddenly disappeared.

Jonah got a sick feeling in his stomach and turned to the General, who until this point had been nothing but friendly, but before he had a chance to speak the General addressed the three of them.

"Jonah, we were hoping you Thera and Carlin would join us on Earth". As he finished speaking Tor entered the room and everything suddenly clicked into place for Jonah.

"You think the four of us are your missing people?" Jonah shook his head in bewilderment. He knew he was not missing from anywhere but for Thera and Carlin's sake he would play along for the moment.

Hammond nodded, while Thera and Calin looked on wondering what the two men were talking about. "You are Col. Jack O'Neill", he turned to the other two, "Major Samantha Carter and Dr Daniel Jackson." The three people stood there staring at him clearly thinking he had lost his mind.

Then Tor spoke up. "It is true O'Neill, we are all part of a team called SG-1, we have been held here against our will – you must return with us."

Carlin had been standing there, observing and absorbing what was being said – flashes of memory invading his mind. "He's right Jack we need to go with them."

"Don't call me that! My name is Jonah." Jonah looked at Thera who merely shrugged to tell him she had no more of an idea of what to do than he did.

"Fine! We'll come with you, if only to prove you are completely wrong."

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Thera jumped back slightly as a massive puddle of water gushed from the gate. She looked and felt nervous but if Jonah thought this was the right thing to do then she would happily follow him. Holding Jonah's hand they stepped through the puddle and came out on a metal ramp on the other side.

Thera took a deep breath to try and overcome the dreadful nausea she was feeling, however, the nausea was nothing compared to the dizziness she was also feeling, her vision began to swim and managed to mutter "Jonah" just before she lost consciousness and began falling into blackness.

Jonah managed to catch her just before she hit the ground but ended up sitting on the metal ramp with his lover clutched in his arms, a terrified look on his face and a disembodied voice yelling, "Medical team to the gateroom! Medical team to the gateroom!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Wow I have been absolutely blown away by the response to this story. I had completely forgotten how wonderful the SG-1 fandom is - thankyou all so much for all the lovely reviews and everyone who has either 'followed' or 'favouirted' this story, you guys are wonderful!**

Jonah looked on worriedly as the people in white coats hovered over Thera. He knew Carlin was somewhere nearby but was too focussed on Thera to really care.

He watched as someone got a huge looking needle and began to insert it into the soft skin at Therea's wrist. "NO!" He would not allow these people to hurt her.

"Please stand back Sir." The small woman who seemed to be in charge said. "We aren't hurting her, we are just setting up a cannula to give her fluids and nutrients."

"Just don't hurt her." It sounded like a threat, but Janet could hear the undertone of vulnerability in his voice.

Janet laid a gentle hand on Jonah's arm and said "It's alright Sir, we aren't going to do anything to hurt her I promise." For some reason her words seemed to reassure Jonah and he backed away slightly in order to let the medical people help Thera.

Janet began to undo the buttons on the ugly orange jacket Sam was wearing in order to cut it from her body. As she was doing this Sam began to stir and for a brief second Janet was sure she saw recognition in her eyes. The recognition turned to terror very quickly though.

"Jonah?" She begged. Her hand was immediately clasped by the man in question and Janet couldn't help but notice how the mere touch had a calming effect on Sam.

"Sam? I just want to cut this jacket off you. I don't think there is anything seriously wrong but I need to examine you." Janet told her calmly.

Sam frowned. "My name is Thera."

"Okay then Thera, I just want to examine you, I promise I won't do anything without telling you first." Thera nodded as Janet began cutting.

A few seconds later Janet let out a gasp at the sight of Sam's distended stomach. "Thera, did you know you are pregnant?"

"Of course she does Doc. We may have been slaves but we aren't idiots." Janet was heartened by the Colonels use of the term 'Doc' but didn't dwell on it because at the moment there were far more important things to deal with.

"Right. Well I am going to get an ultrasound machine and we can have a look at this baby of yours." She smiled at the couple in front of her wishing desperately she was doing this for them in different circumstances. This turn of events was going to impact them in a way no-one could even imagine at the moment.

"You can do that?" Jonah asked in wonder.

"It won't hurt the baby will it?" Thera asked at almost the same time.

Janet wheeled the ultrasound machine beside the bed and retrieved the bottle of gel. "I promise the baby won't have any idea what is going on. I am going to put some of this gel on your stomach and the rub this wand over it." Janet said, holding up the transducer. "If you watch the monitor here," she said pointing to the small screen, "you will get your first look at your baby."

Thera flinched slightly as the gel was applied and Jonah squeezed her hand, silently giving his support. Both of them gasped as a grainy black and white picture appeared on the screen. Janet smiled at the wonder on both their faces. She had forgotten how wonderful this moment was for parents.

"This is your baby's spine," she pointed to what looked like a row of pearls, "and here are your baby's hands and feet. I just need to take a few measurements and we can work out when this little one is going to make and appearance." Janet worked silently for a few minutes but she couldn't help but notice the tears in both parents' eyes or the way Col. O'Neill was kissing Sam's forehead as if she was the most precious thing in the world. She felt a pang of sadness knowing that no matter how this situation panned out her friends were never likely to show this open affection again.

"Well I would say you are about 32 weeks which means in about eight weeks you are going to be parents." She smiled at them and began to pack up the machine. "I need to go and give General Hammond my preliminary report on your conditions, so why don't you rest and when I get back I will organise a trip to the showers for you both." Jonah and Thera nodded, still caught up in the miracle of seeing their baby for the first time.

Jonah had been assigned a bed next to Thera but the thought of resting without her in his arms was not something he was prepared to consider. As if sensing his plan Thera rolled to her side allowing Jonah to slip in behind her and drape his arm protectively across her distended belly. He nuzzled the base of her neck and kissed it lightly.

"I love you Jonah." Were the last beautiful words he heard before they both drifted off to sleep.

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Carlin sat on a bed at the end of the infirmary. A nurse had bought him a pair of glasses which had dramatically improved his ability to see his surroundings. As he looked around he began to have more flashes of familiarity, memories suddenly resurfacing. He laid his head back on the soft pillow knowing he had lain on this bed many times before and allowed the memories wash over him. His head began to throb and he groaned in pain. Janet walked over to him and gently took his wrist in her hand to take his pulse.

"Janet?" He tested his newfound memories.

Janet smiled brightly. "Good to have you back with us Dr Jackson." Internally Janet breathed a sigh of relief. If Daniel and Teal'c's memories had returned then there was a good chance it was only a matter of time before Col O'Neill and Sam's memories returned also. Although how they were going to cope with the life-changing outcome of their time on P3R-118 she had no idea.

She automatically looked over to where Col O'Neill was lying behind Sam in the narrow infirmary bed and wondered if there was any way this situation could not end badly for her friends.

"Daniel I have to go and give my preliminary report to General Hammond." She began to adjust his drip. "I am going to give you something for the headache and a mild sedative to help you sleep.

Daniel nodded drowsily as Janet took a deep breath and began to formulate how she was going to break the news of Col. O'Neill and Sam's impending parenthood to the poor unsuspecting General.


	5. Chapter 5

**The response to this story is really overwhelming me - thank you all so very much. Night shift has finished for a while so I will try and get a couple of updates up this week - but I will confess I am really struggling with the flow of this story, I know where it is supposed to be heading but it seems to be going in all directions other than forward.**

Dr Janet Frasier was nervous about the meeting she was about to have with George Hammond. It wasn't that she feared the man, on the contrary she had the utmost respect for him. She also met with him briefly each day, so that wasn't why she was nervous, no, it was more the fact that she had no idea what she was going to tell him and how he would react to the news she was about to deliver.

Taking a deep breath she knocked confidently.

"Enter." She heard from the other side of the door. She entered and took the seat opposite the General, the same way she had done hundreds of times before.

"How are they?" He asked his voice laced with worry and guilt.

"Physically they are in very good shape considering, a bit dehydrated and malnourished but other than that there are no wounds or evidence of abuse." The doctor hedged.

"Well thank goodness for that I suppose." Janet was quiet, she could tell there was more on the Generals mind. "I never should have bowed to Kinsey and the NID – everything pointed to the fact that they were alive on that planet somewhere!"

"Sir, you did everything you could. You sent teams for as long as you could. It is not your fault. There just wasn't any evidence to support the fact that they were alive. Sir, you were ordered to stop expending resources on finding them."

"But my gut told me they were there. Hell, even Major Griff said he thought they were still there somewhere. They were there for nearly a year and I just left them there!"

"Sir, their memories were repressed, they had no idea they were missing." Janet tried to help the troubled General.

General Hammond gave himself a mental shake. You didn't rise to the rank of general by constantly second guessing your actions and decisions. "What is the long term effect of this memory repression?"

"I don't know sir." Janet told him honestly. "We have no way of knowing how it was done let alone if it is reversible. What I do know is that Teal'c and Daniel's memories appear to have returned completely."

"And what about Col O'Neill and Major Carter?" He asked.

Janet sighed, this was the part of the briefing she really, really didn't want to give. "Both Major Carter and Col. O'Neill seem to have no recollection of their lives on Earth, in fact they are insisting on being addressed as Jonah and Thera." Janet paused and looked at her notes.

"I take it there is more?" General Hammond knew that when it came to his flagship team there was always more.

"Yes Sir. It seems that while on P3R-118, without any knowledge of their military relationship and no concept of certain military regulations…..well it seems that Col. O'Neill and Major Carter developed a rather close relationship."

George Hammond let out a small groan, this could become very complicated. "How close?"

"Um, very close." Janet did not want to ruin this man's day. "Major Carter is 32 weeks pregnant."

For the first time in years George Hammond was grateful he had no hair because he was fairly sure if he had it wold have just turned grey.

"And the baby is Col. O'Neill's?"

"I think it's a safe assumption after seeing the two of them together. General, I don't think it would be wise to try and separate them either. Major Carter woke up very distressed and it wasn't until Col. O'Neill made his presence known that her heart rate calmed dramatically."

"How long will they need to be in the infirmary?" The General asked.

"I have no medical reason to keep them. Obviously they can't leave the base until their memories return, can I suggest we set up the VIP quarters and confine them to base until their memories return.

"Doctor you realise you are asking me to allow two of my officers to blatantly ignore the regulations against fraternising."

"I know General, however my first concern is for that of my patients and I think it would be best for Major Carters blood pressure to be with Col. O'Neill."

"Do you have any idea of the paperwork and headaches this is going to cause?" He asked rhetorically. "Are we sure their memories are going to return?"

Janet shook her head. "I can't say for certain, the fact that Daniel and Teal'c have had their memories return makes me optimistic, however, I would have thought that by now there might be some level of recognition."

"Have the VIP quarters set up and I will call the president, I have a feeling this is one of those situations he may want to have some say in."

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Jonah had been lying with his arm wrapped protectively around Thera while she slept. His gut was telling him he had nothing to fear from these people other than the fact that they all kept trying to tell him he was someone he wasn't.

He loved lying against Thera and feeling their child move within her. He was no longer worried about having to hide the pregnancy, he could just enjoy the moment. He was pretty sure he would think up a whole new set of worries in the near future but for the moment he was just going to enjoy the feel of his woman full with their child.

He felt Thera's hand cover his, letting him know she was awake. "It's moving a lot." She whispered.

"Well it is pretty squishy in there – probably just having a stretch." He grinned as he whispered into her neck.

Janet observed the couple before approaching them. She was torn, as much as she wanted her friends back, she wanted her friends to be able to have the open and loving relationship Jonah and Thera shared.

"Jonah, Thera, I was wondering if you would like to head to the showers? I can get you some clean clothes and after that I'll take you to the VIP quarters where you should be a bit more comfortable. I'm still going to be keeping a close eye on you but I don't see any real reason to keep you in the infirmary."

"These showers, do they have hot water?" Jonah asked.

Janet smiled. "Yes, as much hot water as you want."

"Sweet!"

Thera listened to the exchange and decided there was nothing she wanted more than a long hot shower at this moment. She searched her mind and could come up with no memory of ever having a hot shower, let alone a long one.

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Thera decided that Janet was an angel. Not only had she provided them with soaps, towels and clean clothes, but she had left them in the locker room and told them how to lock the door.

Jonah turned to her and undid the ties on the white gown she was wearing and slipped it off her shoulders. Thera kept eye contact with him the whole time while her breathing became shallow.

"You are so beautiful." Jonah whispered as he raised his hand and caressed her cheek, before kneeling and reverently kissing her stomach. He caressed the swollen roundness of her belly, loving the fact that he could feast his eyes on where their child was safely cocooned within her, something he hadn't been able to do in the cavern.

"Jonah." Thera's breath hitched as she said his name. Jonah looked up and into her eyes, seeing nothing but love shining in them. She reached out and caressed his face with her hands and pulled him gently to his feet where she undid the ties holding his gown together.

Once they were both naked Jonah took her hand and lead her to the showers and turned on the steaming hot water. Once the water was the right temperature they stepped beneath the firm jets and revelled in the feel of the water sluicing over their bodies. Jonah took some of the soap Janet had given them and began reverently washing his lover. Once he had finished and Thera was in a heated state that had nothing to do with the water temperature she returned the favour, leaving Jonah in little doubt as to how she wanted this shower to end.

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Forty minutes after leaving the couple in the locker room Janet returned to check on them. As she approached the door she heard groaning, she was about to call some SF's to break down the door when she heard a small giggle and realised that what she was hearing had nothing to do with her patients being in pain. With a small grin Janet walked back to her office, deciding to return in about fifteen minutes.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks again for the wonderful response to this story. A few people expressed some concern about my menioning the pesky regs in the last chapter. I just want to assure everyone that this story really has nothing to do with the regs (I don't really know enough about them to write about it confidently anyway) but more to do with the emotional toll the situation will have on them as individuals and as a couple - at least that is the plan.**

"Jonah?"

"Hmmm"

"Do you think they will let us stay here?" Thera asked uncertainly.

"I don't know. They haven't said anything about taking us anywhere else and Carlin seems to have slotted himself in here quite nicely." Jonah said with a hint of bitterness to his voice.

Thera rolled slightly so she could see Jonah's face. "He has asked us to call him Daniel." She said quietly.

"Yeah right forgot."

"Do you ever worry that what they are saying might be true? I mean Carlin obviously believes he is this Daniel person and he seems more….himself I guess. I'm not really explaining it very well. Is it possible we actually are this Sam and Jack they keep talking about – I mean everyone seems to think we are?"

"Do you think we are?" Jonah asked in a worried tone.

Thera appeared to be thinking, something Jonah knew she did a lot. "I don't know. I certainly don't remember anything about her life if I am her."

"So then – probably not her." Jonah said as if that were all there was to it.

"But Daniel….."

"Ack ack ack! Are you, Thera, happy?"

Thera got a radiant smile on her face. "Very."

"Then what does it matter what our names are?"

"You're right." Thera snuggled deeper into Jonah's embrace. "Regardless of our names there are things I like about this place a lot."

"Hmmmm." He loved this woman but oh could she talk.

"The big bed. I LOVE the big bed." Jonah smiled thinking of the ways they had put the big, soft bed to use over the last few days.

"And the cake. The cake is really good." Jonah added.

"And the showers!" Thera had never felt so clean.

"And the Playstation! That thing is very cool."

"Jonah?"

"Hmmmm."

"You don't think they will try and take the baby off us do you?"

And with that one question the playful mood was gone and Thera had just voiced his worst fear.

"Nope." He answered her as confidently as he could but he vowed next time he saw the little doctor lady alone he was going to ask a few questions.

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Daniel and Janet were in the commissary having their morning coffee, a ritual they had begun long before P3R-118 and one Janet was more than happy to continue with now that she had her friend back.

"Why haven't they got their memories back yet?" Daniel asked.

Janet sighed. "I don't know."

"Teal'c and I got ours back over a week ago, why is it taking so much longer for Jack and Sam?"

Janet wasn't sure she even wanted to put a voice to her theory, after all it was just that – a theory, but Daniel was right it had been over a week and in that time there had not even been so much as a flash of recognition.

Daniel watched the emotions play across Janet's face and then it came to him. "They don't want to remember do they?" He almost accused.

Again Janet sighed. "It's more complicated than that – I don't think they are deliberately doing anything to stop their memories returning but think about it, Jonah and Thera have a lot to lose if they got back to being Jack and Sam, or more importantly Col. O'Neill and Major Carter. The mind is a really powerful thing Daniel, but yes, I think it is possible they are resisting their memories returning in order to preserve the relationship they currently have."

"So what can we do?"

"I don't know Daniel. Do we really have a right to 'do' anything?" Janet was clearly torn. She knew she wanted her friends back and she knew the world needed their expertise but she also knew that the open loving relationship they now shared was not something they were going to be able to maintain once their memories returned. Even if they did remain together as Jack and Sam, both of them carried too much emotional baggage to ever allow them the simple loving relationship they currently shared.

"Janet, they need to know who they really are." Daniel said quietly.

"I know Daniel, I know." She sighed and shook her head. "I am just concerned that this is one trauma they may not be able to recover from."

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What was it with this woman and shining a light in his eyes? Jonah was sitting in the infirmary for his daily examination, wondering how he was going to ask the question he most needed an answer to at the moment.

"So Doc. Will Thera be having the baby here?"

Janet looked up startled by the unexpected question. "Yes. She'll have the baby here and I will there with her."

Jonah looked at her while she responded and knew she was answering honestly. "And what about me? Will I be there?"

Once again Janet looked startled. "Of course. If that is what you and Sa…Thera want."

"It is." Jonah took a breath stealing himself for the next question.

"And what about after the baby is here?"

Janet looked at him confused not really sure what he was asking.

"After the baby arrives, will we be able to keep it?"

Janet was shocked. She had no idea this was a concern of Jonah's, but then she thought about it from Jonah and Thera's point of view and realised that they had no reason to trust anyone, as far as they were concerned everyone on Earth were strangers.

"Jonah I can assure you no one is going to take your baby away." Jonah sensed the sincerity in her voice and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Doc, good to know." He said it as though he hadn't been all that worried but Janet could tell from the change in his demeanour that it had been something that had been weighing heavily on him. She was sure Jack would reassure Sam but she made a mental note to reinforce it when she did 'Thera's' exam. The last thing she needed was Sam's blood pressure to elevate due to stress.

"There is something I would like you and Thera to do though." Janet started hoping Jonah would not be as resistant to the idea as she knew Col. O'Neill would be.

"Yeah what?" Jonah asked.

"There is another doctor I would like you both to speak to. Dr McKenzie specialises in the mind, basically he just wants to talk to you both, probably together at first and the separately. Would that be okay?"

"You really aren't letting go of this 'our memories have been wiped' theory of yours are you?"

Janet smiled. This was an argument they seemed to have on a daily basis. "Humour me."

"Fine! You'll have to ask Thera yourself but if it will get you off my back once and for all I will talk to the shrink!"

Janet's grin grew bigger at the use of the term 'shrink', that was pure Jack O'Neill.


	7. Chapter 7

**I am so sorry for the delay in updating - I just didn't have time to finish this chapter before I went away, hopefully updates will be a bit more frequent now that my life is back to it's usual level of chaos. Also once again thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed and put this story on their favourite or alert list, you have no idea how much it makes me smile to know that people are enjoying reading it.**

"Well that was fun – not." Jonah said as he flopped back on the bed.

Thera smiled. "C'mon, it wasn't that bad."

Jonah looked at her disbelievingly. "You're kidding right? 'Where did you meet? How long have you known each other?' Yada Yada Yada." Jonah picked up the Playstation controller. "I hate all that touchy feely emotion crap."

Thera climbed on the bed next to him. "I know you do, I'm not a big fan of talking about my feelings either but it's a small price to pay for what they have given us."

"Ah yes cake." Jonah grinned and wrapped his arm around her. "Ah Thera, is there any reason my Palystation isn't working?"

Jonah sat up to check the main console near the television and saw that is was in parts all over the floor. He turned to the woman in his arms. "Care to explain?"

Thera had the grace to look a bit sheepish. "I was bored earlier." She said by way of an explanation.

"You were bored?" Jonah asked incredulously. "So you decided to break my stuff?"

"I was curious. I just wanted to see how it worked."

"And did you? Find out how it worked that is." Jonah asked sarcastically.

"Of course." She answered with a slight frown as if to say was there any doubt of the fact.

"Then do you think you could put it back together now?"

Thera grinned wickedly as she moved to sit astride Jonah's lap. "Well I could." She drawled seductively as she leaned forward and kissed him, "or we could come up with an activity we will both enjoy." She wiggled her hips slightly.

"Mmmmm an activity we will both enjoy you say, you have anything in mind?"

"I'm sure if we put our heads together we can come up with something." Thera began to unbutton Jonah's shirt.

Jonah knew she was way smarter than him and she just proved it once again. He smiled widely and began to unbutton Thera's shirt, loving the way her breath hitched slightly. "You are going to fix the Playstation though right?"

Thera laughed. "Yes Jonah I will fix your Playstation." As she finished speaking Jonah began to rain kisses down her neck. "Later."

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Janet was sitting in General Hammonds office waiting for him to return from a meeting. It had been four days since Jack and Sam had their first meeting with McKenzie, she smiled ruefully at the fact that neither of them made it to a second individual session proved to her they were not faking this memory loss in any way.

"Doctor Frasier" General Hammond greeted as he entered his office.

"General Hammond." Janet stood and addressed her commanding officer as he entered the room and sat behind his desk.

"Has there been any progress?"

"No sir. Jack and Sam attended a joint session with Dr McKenzie, after which he said, and I quote, 'they are both stubbornly sticking to their stories'." Janet cringed as she told the general McKenzie's initial assessment. What little respect she had for the man completely disappeared after that comment but as the base psychiatrist she had little choice but to refer SG personnel to him.

"As you can imagine, with that type of attitude, Col. O'Neill didn't even make it halfway through his first individual session before storming into my office and informing me that he would rather take his chances back on P3R-118 than have to sit through another moment with, again I quote, 'that quack."

General Hammond sighed not really surprised at the outcome. After all it was Jack O'Neill, regardless of memory loss, he was still in possession of the same personality traits. "And Major Carter?" He asked.

"Lasted until her second session, but McKenzie insisted on calling her Major Carter and she clammed up and refused to speak to him at all."

"So what do you suggest we do next doctor?" The General asked. He not only wanted his two officers back but he also wanted his two friends back.

"I was thinking about taking them to their homes and seeing if the familiar surroundings may help their memories. I know you wanted to confine them to base Sir but other than Sam's blood pressure there is nothing medically wrong with either of them and, well, I guess we need to face the fact that they may never regain their memories and if that happens we can't keep them here forever." Janet finished quietly. Although she was growing to like this 'new' version of her friends who were openly loving and happy she couldn't help but want their true selves back, she just hoped they could find some way to combine the two.

"What exactly did you have in mind?" The general asked knowing his CMO would not have bought up this course of action without a plan already in mind.

"As you are aware neither like to be parted from the other for any length of time but I thought if I offered to take Sam shopping for things for the baby and then 'drop in' to her house on the way back. I thought Daniel and Teal's could offer to show Col. O'Neill a house that he and Sam might like to consider living in."

General Hammond sighed. "It's almost like they don't want to remember." Janet looked up startled. "Don't get me wrong I certainly don't think they are doing it deliberately, but their lives are certainly simpler at the moment, I was just thinking that subconsciously it must hold a certain appeal for them."

"I don't disagree General, my concern though, is. how they are going to deal with the situation if and when they get their memories back."

"You have a go doctor and make sure you keep me apprised of any change, no matter how small."

Janet stood. "Yes sir".

As he watched his CMO leave George Hammond felt his gut knot even more tightly than it had been for the last few weeks. He too was worried about the ramifications of Jack and Sam's time on the planet. He had made sure the powers that be understood that the officers had no idea of the military regulations they were bound by and therefore was assured there would be no charges bought against either one, but he knew the emotional toll of this mission was going to be a hard one for either officer to recover from.


	8. Chapter 8

**Once again I have been overwhelmed by the response to this story - you guys are wonderful, I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint anyone.**

"You sure you don't want me to come too?" Jonah asked for the third time.

Thera grinned at him. "I would love you to come and pick things out for our baby," Thera clasped his hand in hers, "but I would _really_ love to be able to raise our child in a house rather than this room".

Jonah knew she was right, he just had a bad feeling about letting her go. He couldn't put his finger on it – it was just an uneasy feeling in his gut and he knew if he said anything Threa would probably laugh at him and tell him the feeling probably had more to do with the amount of breafast he ate this morning. So instead of saying anything he gently held her face in his hands and kissed her thoroughly. As he pulled away he grinned at the look on her face. "Just a little something to remember me by." He teased.

Thera regained her composure and put one hand one his cheek and the other on her massive stomach. "As if I could forget you."

"I just…..well I don't know what I would do without you….I don't think I could go on without you". Jonah said quietly.

Thera looked at the man she loved, unaccustomed to him showing this kind of vulnerability. "Well I don't plan on going anywhere other than the shops with Janet so don't worry you won't have to be without me for long." Thera grinned at him trying to lighten his mood. "And pretty soon I am going to subdivide and you will have two of us with you forever."

Jonah smiled. He could hardly wait to meet their baby. He rubbed his hand over Thera's stomach. "Have fun then you two and I will see you when you get back". He leaned in and gave her one last quick kiss.

"Maybe I'll even bring you back a present."

Jonah wiggled his eyebrows. "You are the only present I want."

Thera laughed openly as she left their room calling over her shoulder, "you never know your luck flyboy".

She never saw the frown on Jonah's face.

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"What about this one?" Janet asked holding up an adorable white baby suit embroidered with delicate little teddy bears.

Thera nodded absently. Jonah had been right, he should be here sharing in this. She had purchased a few outfits for the baby and a sling so she could carry it close to her but she had refrained from buying anything else without Jonah's input. She instinctively knew he would be happy with anything she chose but she also sensed he would enjoy selecting things for their baby.

"Sa….Thera? Are you okay?" Janet asked concerned by her friends' lack of interest in the baby clothes.

"I'm sorry." Thera turned her attention to the tiny doctor who was fast becoming a friend. "I was just thinking about how Jonah should be here. He is so excited about the baby, I feel like he would want to be here to buy its first clothes."

Not for the first time, Janet was second guessing her plan for the afternoon. A small part of her was hoping that it didn't work.

"No problems, why don't we head back to the mountain?" Janet said.

Thera smiled. "Thanks for understanding Janet."

As they headed towards the car Janet casually mentioned that she was looking after a friends' house and they had to make a quick stop to pick up the mail and water the plants. Thera was too happy to be heading back to Jonah to care about a small detour and agreed.

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"You ready to go Ja…Jonah?" Daniel asked as he entered the VIP quarters that had been Sam and Jacks home for the last three weeks.

Jonah looked up at the man he had always known as Carlin but now insisted on being called Daniel. It was really the only thing about this place that still made Jonah feel uncomfortable, the fact that they had managed to convince Carlin that he was someone else so easily.

"Yeah – good to go."

Daniel drove them to Jack's house and used his spare key to let them inside. Jonah looked around and easily imagined himself living here with Thera. It was like a dream come true, the woman he loved more than life itself, a house like this and a baby due in a couple of weeks – what more could a man ask for? It was hard to believe that a few short weeks ago he and Thera were living as slaves in a cavern below the surface of an ice planet.

As he walked into the lounge area he caught sight of a photo of a young boy on the wall. At first he only glanced at it but something made him turn back and look more closely.

"Charlie." He whispered. Daniel and Teal'c looked at him, startled that Janet's plan was working so quickly. Jonah didn't know how he knew the boy's name but something inside him said this child was important.

Jonah removed the photo from the wall and continued to stare at it. The other two men in the room waited, letting the memories begin to unfold in their friend. Jonah looked around the room and then back at the photo. He knew this child, he just wasn't sure how it was possible for him to so definitely know the face of a child in some strangers house on a different planet. It was like a memory just out of reach, taunting him to embrace it. Jonah wanted to remember but something held him back, something important.

Jonah looked at the eyes of the child and recognised them as the same eyes that stared back at him each morning when he looked in the mirror. He looked at the other photos on the wall and saw a woman with the same child and standing behind them looked to be a younger version of himself.

Jack felt his knees give way and his large form collapsed on the sofa. "Dear God. What have I done?" Jack buried his head in his hands and felt the memories flood through his brain. Sara, Charlie, Black ops, the shooting, Abydos, it all came back. "Sam." He whispered her name.

Daniel and Teal'c stood and watched their friends heart literally break and knew this was not something Jack would want anyone to witness, they quietly left the house and went to wait in the car until he was ready to go back to the mountain.

Inside the house, the usually emotionally reserved Jack O'Neill cried. He cried for the son he had lost five years ago and he cried for the child Jonah and Thera created because he now knew he was not Jonah, former slave and partner of Thera, but Jack O'Neill, Colonel and Commanding Officer of Samantha Carter and he had no idea how to reconcile Jonah and Jack to make any part of this situation acceptable.


	9. Chapter 9

**Oh wow you guys are so fantasitic - I haven't had a response to a story like this since I wrote my first one five years ago! Every single one of you who's reviewed or put this on your alert/favourite list inspire me to keep writing, so thank you so much. I know some of you are a bit concerned - yes there is plenty of angst ahead but they were in love and they had that ripped away - there would have to be some major ramifications to that BUT I only know how to write happy endings so hang in there.**

Janet pulled up out the front of Sam's house. Thera was clearly focussed on getting back to Jonah and wasn't really taking any notice of where they were. Not for the first time Janet thought about what she was trying to do and how cruel it was, did she have the right to force these obviously happy people to remember a life where they could not be together? And it wasn't just their lives to consider, there was a baby involved. If she just drove off that innocent little baby would be born into a family and have two loving parents committed to each other, if she forced this who knew what the ramifications would be. She still had time to just turn the engine back on and drive off. Just as she reached down to turn the key she heard a text message on her phone. Janet reached into her bag and quickly glanced at the brief message from Daniel 'It worked' was all it said. Janet sighed.

"Something wrong?" Thera asked.

"Plenty." Janet said miserably.

"Jonah?" Thera asked terrified of what the answer would be.

Janet reached out and patted Thera's hand. "Jonah is fine." She smiled weakly. "Have you ever thought about what it would be like if Jonah wasn't in your life?" Janet asked hoping Thera's answer would be able to give her some guidance on what she should do next.

Thera shuddered. "I don't even want to think about losing Jonah." She absently rubbed her stomach. "I don't think…I wouldn't…couldn't live without him."

Well she had her answer. Jonah was no more and she couldn't ask Thera to live without him, her only choice was to try and jog Sam's memories free.

Janet smiled. "Why don't you come in with me?"

Thera got out of the car and the two women walked up the path and entered the house. Janet told Thera to make herself at home in the living room while she watered the plants.

Thera sat on the comfortable sofa for a while but decided to look around a bit. After all if she and Jonah were going to be living in a house like this she should probably be familiar with the types of rooms it had but before she had a chance to look at any of the other rooms, three photos on the mantle over the fireplace caught her attention.

The first photo was of an older, bald man and two children, a boy and a girl, the way the man was hugging the children she guessed he was their grandfather. The second photo was of a teenage girl. It was the third photo that made Thera gasp. Smiling back at her were Daniel, Teal'c, Jonah and herself.

Thera continued holding the photo trying desperately to make sense of what she was seeing. How was it possible that there was a photo of four people from another planet in this strangers house? Thera held onto the photo as she moved through the house, occasionally glancing down at it to make sure she hadn't imagined what she had seen.

She moved through the house as if something terrifying was going to jump out at her any moment. The kitchen held no secrets, nor did what appeared to be a bedroom, an office or the bathroom. There was one other room in the house. Thera opened the door and as she saw inside she gasped, this whole room was so familiar, she somehow knew she had been here before. She glanced down at the photo again.

She knew she had lain on that bed several times clutching the very same photo she was holding now, lost in grief because she thought she had lost one of the three men. It was like that one little memory crack allowed the floodgates to open and memories coursed through her brain and there was nothing she could do to hold them back.

"Oh god." She groaned and sank to her knees on the bedroom floor. That was how Janet found her friend a few minutes later.

Janet sank to her knees beside Sam and put her arm around her friend. Sam turned to her with tears streaming down her face. "God Janet! Why did you make me remember? She's gone and Jonah will be alone – why would you do that to him?"

"Sam, sweetie Col. O'Neill remembered too." Janet said gently.

The tiny part of her that was still Thera was glad that Jonah would not be left alone. Tears streamed down her face. "I didn't want to remember, she was so happy. She was happier than I have ever been in my life. Why did you make us remember?" Sam begged her friend.

"Sam, honey, you weren't Thera. Parts of you shone through all the time, it was like the real you was trying to break through but didn't know how. There are too many people who love and need you, Sam. We had to try everything to get you back." Janet tried to explain her actions but in the face of the grief her friend was obviously feeling she was wondering if they would have been better just leaving them alone.

"What about Jonah and their baby, didn't they love and need Thera?" Sam asked with a small hint of anger in her voice.

"They still have you Sam."

"No! Don't you get it Janet. This baby belongs to Jonah and Thera and now Jonah and Thera no longer exist. This baby belongs to two people who don't exist!"

"Sam," Janet tried to calm her, "it's your baby, it is growing inside of you."

"It may be inside of me but _it's not_ my baby." Sam Carter turned steely eyes to her friend. "I think I just want to be alone."

Janet got the hint and stood reluctantly. "Are you sure you should be alone? I can send Cassie or Daniel over if you want."

Sam let out a bitter laugh. "I have just added the memories of yet another person to my psyche – believe me Janet I couldn't be alone even if I wanted to. Please just go."

Five minutes later Sam Carter crawled into bed and cried. She cried like she had never cried before, mourning the loss of a life and relationship that she now realised she wanted more than anything, she cried for the child she carried within her that a few hours ago had two parents in love, who were eagerly awaiting its arrival and now only had a woman who was eager to have it out of her body because it didn't belong to her. And she cried for the easy relationship she had once shared with her CO because she knew without a doubt it would never be the same again.


	10. Chapter 10

**Oh wow - you guys are amazing! Issuing a tissue alert for this one - I NEVER EVER cry when I read my own writing but I will admit I had a little tiny tear in my eye when I re-read this.**

Jack O'Neill stood at the front door. He still wasn't sure if this was a good idea. Hell, he knew it wasn't a good idea – it was 2am and he was standing at his 2IC's front door. Before he could over-think the whole situation any further he knocked.

It took a couple of minutes before Sam Carter opened the door and looked at him in shock. She wasn't ready for this. The part of her that was Thera leapt at the sight of him but Sam Carter crushed those feelings before they had time to take hold.

"Sir," she said quietly.

That one word cut through his heart like a knife. "I thought we should…..you know….talk before we have to report tomorrow…..away from prying eyes and all that."

Sam sighed and moved aside so he could enter the house. He moved into the living room and saw the box of crumpled tissues on the coffee table.

"I um wasn't expecting guests….just give me a minute." Sam said slightly embarrassed that he had seen the evidence of her tears. She moved about cleaning up the mess but Jack reached out and gently grabbed her arm. He couldn't help but notice the slight flinch.

"It's okay Sam – looks pretty much the same as my place." He admitted quietly.

Sam looked at him in surprise. "It does?"

"Oh yeah." It seemed to calm her a little bit to know he had been crying too.

"Can I get you a drink?" Sam asked and then realised what she had said. "Actually before you answer that I'm pretty sure I only have water." She smiled weakly, reminding them both that they had been away from their homes for nearly a year.

"I'm good." Jack sat in one of the single seats and Sam resumed her place on the lounge. "So..um…how are you feeling?"

Heartbroken, devastated, miserable. "Fine. Now that the headache is going."

"Yeah, it was a doozy alright."

They sat there in uncomfortable silence for what felt like hours. Jack knew he should say something, after all it was him who had turned up here at 2am wanting to talk, he just didn't know what to say.

"So, I spoke to Hammond earlier, he wants us to come in for a debrief tomorrow but is fine if we want to take some time off." Sam didn't give any kind of reaction, so he continued. "He, ah, also said there would be no repercussions," his eyes moved quickly to his 2IC's stomach, "military repercussions to our time in the ice age."

"Good. One less thing to worry about right?" She tried to smile as she spoke but couldn't quite pull it off.

Jack knew they needed to talk about their relationship, the baby and probably a hundred other things and clearly she either didn't want to talk about it or had no more of an idea how to bring it up than he did. He knew one of them had to and it would be far better to talk about it now in private than have all this bought up at the debriefing tomorrow.

"I want to say this won't change anything, but I think we both know that isn't true. Have you given any thought to ….. the future?"

Sam took a deep breath. She had thought of nothing but the future since her memory returned. Her future involved being an air force officer, a scientist, fighting a war unfortunately Thera's future kept interfering, being a wife and a mother and Sam for the life of her could not make the two lives mesh. She couldn't have Thera's life and yet she could no longer fully embrace Sam's life.

"I don't know Sir." Sam looked her CO in the eye and knew she had to be honest with him. "Part of me wants their life. It was simple and they were so happy." As she spoke she absently began rubbing her distended stomach. "But I know that isn't possible and I would probably get bored and….well, it's her life, not mine." She finished quietly.

Jack understood exactly what she meant. Jonah was a simple man, he had a beautiful woman he loved who loved him in return and they had a baby on the way – in some ways it was like Jack's dreams come true but another part of him wanted to make the world safe for people like Jonah.

"Have you had any thoughts about the baby and how we are going to manage?" Jack asked knowing she would have done nothing but think about the child. Everyone seemed to think children just gravitated to him but he knew Sam Carter had a maternal streak a mile wide, anyone just needed to see her with Cassie to know that.

"Hundreds of them." She confessed. "I don't…..I…it's not my baby." She said hesitantly. Jack looked at her confused. "It's Thera and Jonah's baby and they wanted it so badly." Tears began to slip from her eyes. "We can't give it what Jonah and Thera could. I….. I was thinking….I was thinking it might be best if I put it up for adoption…..give it a chance to be with a family who love it and each other."

Jack flinched slightly at her words. He wanted to scream NO we can give it everything it needs but he knew in his heart it wasn't true. He wasn't allowed to love Sam and the best they could offer it would be some kind of co-parenting scenario, was it fair to the child to put it in that situation just because he desperately wanted to cling to the last tangible piece of Jonah and Thera?

Sam didn't know what to make of his silence. "I just think we owe it to Jonah and Thera to give their baby everything they wanted for it, not two people who can be away for weeks or even months at a time and not know when they head off to work if they will even return."

Jack knew in his heart what she was saying made sense but the tiny part of him that was still Jonah was rebelling at the thought of her giving their baby to strangers. "And what about us Carter?"

"I honestly don't know Sir. I look at you and I see him. I don't know if I can deal with that every day. It's like a part of her is still inside me."

"I know what you mean. I know I can order Major Carter into a dangerous situation but there is a part of Jonah still in here," he tapped at his heart, "and I know there is no way he could order you to do anything let alone something dangerous."

"I imagine I am going to be confined to the lab for the next couple of months so I guess we have time to decide if we can work together again. I think maybe we just need to give each other a bit of space to deal with the whole situation and put it behind us."

Jack didn't even want to contemplate the idea of not having Sam Carter by his side on a daily basis. He was prepared to do anything she wanted to make sure that when she was cleared for field work again it would be back on SG-1 where she belonged.


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay starting to move out of the angst - this one is a little bit happier (tiny little bit) but have no fear happy chapter is underway! Thanks again for all the wonderful feedback I have had for this story - every single one has left me with a husge smile on my face and a desire to get the next chapter up a soon as possible.**

To say the debrief had been torturous would be an understatement. Having to relive Jonah and Thera's lives while sitting across from Sam was not something Jack O'Neill ever wanted to do again. He had already informed General Hammond that he wanted an indefinite amount of leave, so as soon as he was able to escape he was headed to his cabin. His place of solace, where he could hide from the world and his feelings and contemplate the future in private.

He had been at the cabin less than a day before he realised that being there may not have been one of his smarter ideas. Every time he closed his eyes he saw her. He saw her, P-90 in hand, fighting alongside him, he saw her holding Cassie, he saw her riding her motorcycle into the car park at O'Malley's, he saw her as they made love, he saw her laughing and he saw her crying. Not matter how exhausted he made himself during the day the minute he lay down she invaded his every sense.

It took a week of sleepless nights before he admitted to himself that he loved her, his feelings and Jonah's feelings were all mixed up together but in the end it really didn't matter because what Jonah felt for Thera was what Jack felt for Sam. What he didn't know was whether Sam and Thera's feelings were mixed up in the same way.

As he sat on the dock fishing on his twelfth day at the cabin a few things became very clear. Over his cold, dead body was his baby being put up for adoption. He had come to accept that Jonah was a part of him and there was no way either of them would allow the adoption to proceed, even if it meant retiring. And once the thought of retiring entered his head it was one he just couldn't seem to let go of. Yes he would miss going through the gate, but the last year had proven that the survival of the human race didn't depend on him. Retiring meant he could raise his child and be there for all the things he missed with Charlie, it was a second chance he wasn't prepared to give up. And who knew, retiring just might mean that he and the mother of his child could explore their relationship as Jack and Sam.

Less than three hours later he was on a plane back to Colorado Springs – a letter informing General Hammond of his request for retirement in his pocket.

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Sam Carter watched as Col. O'Neill left the briefing room as fast as he could. She knew she couldn't blame him, it had been a horrendous three hours reliving their time as Jonah and Thera and having to remember how happy they had been. Logically she knew she had asked him for space but part of her resented the fact that he didn't even take the time to speak to her.

She knew instinctively he would be heading for his cabin. It was the place he escaped to. For her it was her lab, so that was where she headed. After all she had nearly a year of work to catch up on.

Daniel realised almost immediately what she was doing, it was exactly what he had done after he lost Sha're – Sam was throwing herself into her work so she could think about anything other than Jack. Daniel also knew from experience that it wasn't going to work.

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The day after the debriefing Janet asked her to come to the infirmary.

"I got a message you wanted to see me." Sam said tiredly.

"Hi Sam. Yeah I just wanted to do another ultrasound."

Since deciding to put the baby up for adoption, Sam had done everything she could to mentally distance herself from the pregnancy but she knew Janet wasn't going to take no for an answer so she resigned herself to having the ultrasound.

As she lay on the bed in the infirmary she looked away from the monitor but she couldn't help remembering the few short weeks ago when Jonah and Thera had seen their baby like this for the first time and how happy she had felt.

Janet watched Sam's reaction and her heart went out to the woman. She knew Sam intended to put the baby up for adoption and she even understood her reasons but a part of Janet kept hoping Sam would change her mind. Sam had lost so much in the last few weeks she didn't know if she would survive giving her baby away too.

"Everything looks good Sam, I may have been a bit off with the original dates so I would say things could happen any day now."

"Good. The sooner the better as far as I'm concerned." Sam had tried to sound confident and self-assured but the tiny crack in her voice told Janet she was far more emotional about the situation than she would ever let on.

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"Hey Sam." Daniel poked his head in the door of her lab.

"Daniel." Sam looked at her friend. He had been her rock since that awful debriefing. He had stopped by at least three times a day to make sure she ate and make sure she didn't work all night. She hadn't been home since Jack, she mentally shook herself, she _had_ to start thinking of him as Col. O'Neill again, since Col. O'Neill had visited her. The bland single quarters she had on base seemed to suit her mood much better than her house at the moment.

"Time for lunch." He told her. "And don't try and tell me you aren't hungry, you have said it every day for the last twelve days and I didn't listen then and I'm not listening now. So pack up whatever you are doing otherwise I will get Janet down here.

Sam smiled. "You are just mean enough to do it too, aren't you." She folded the papers she had been filling out and slipped them into the pocket of her maternity pants, god she would be happy when she could wear regular clothes again. As she stood she felt a pull in her back and winced as she tried to massage away the pain.

"You okay?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah fine, probably just been sitting too long," she dismissed.

As they left her lab, Daniel decided he needed to breach the taboo topic of Jack. "So, I had a call from Jack this morning." He didn't even have to look at her to know Sam had tensed up the minute he mentioned Jack's name. "He ah, he's on his way back."

It was too soon! Those words kept playing over in her mind like a broken record. She wasn't ready to see him yet. Part of her hoped he wouldn't come back until after the baby was born and that way she could be back to the Major Carter he remembered and they could try and salvage their professional relationship.

After lunch Sam excused herself from Daniel's company and went to see Janet. As she entered the doctor's office she removed the adoption papers she had been working on earlier and handed them over. Janet glanced at them.

"I want you to file them as soon as possible." Sam told her.

"Are you sure Sam? You don't want to speak to Col. O'Neill about this before I send them off?"

"We have spoken about it and he agrees with me that it would be for the best." Janet nodded sadly, she had so hoped it would turn out differently for them. "I also want a c-section as soon as you can."

Janet looked up startled, she hadn't been expecting that. "There is no medical reason you can't give birth Sam," she said quietly.

Sam looked at her friend desperately willing her tears not to fall. "I need it to be over Janet, I need to be able to move on." Janet nodded understanding why her friend felt she couldn't move on while she was pregnant with a child she had no intention of keeping.

"I'll do another ultrasound tomorrow and we can schedule something after that okay?" Sam nodded.

"Thanks." As she left the office Janet looked down at the papers in front of her, knowing full well it went against her patients wishes she slipped them into her desk drawer and prayed she wouldn't ever have to remove them.

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After leaving Janet's office Sam felt more emotionally drained than she had since regaining her memories, even the thought of returning to her lab held no real appeal. The twinge she had felt in her back seemed to be getting worse and what she really wanted was a bubble bath. It was time to go home she decided.

The thought of driving herself seemed like a monumental task. She knew Daniel would happily drive her but she also knew he would insist on staying and would end u hovering over her. Teal'c was a much better choice so she headed to his quarters.

"Hi Teal'c, I'm not interrupting am I?"

"Not at all MajorCarter. Are you well?"

"Aside from a bit of a backache I'm good. I was just wondering if you would mind driving me home. You can keep my car and I'll just get a cab in tomorrow."

"It would be my pleasure MajorCarter." The stoic Jaffa said, knowing full well that when he told O'Neill of her plans he would be on her doorstep tomorrow morning.

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The backache persisted through her bath and if anything got worse during the night. She had been so uncomfortable for the last few days that she had had very little sleep, although even she had to admit being at home in her nice large bed was better than the base quarters.

When she had yet to fall asleep at 2am she decided to do something productive and went into the kitchen. Before she even realised what she was doing everything had been emptied from the pantry and she was washing down shelves. Once she finished with the pantry she began on the linen cupboard. At 5am she was exhausted and in a great deal of pain. She hadn't realised while she was cleaning that the pain in her back had moved around her front and was gripping her in a tight band of pain around her body.

The knock on the door had never been so welcome. As she opened it she was shocked to see Col. O'Neill. "Can you take me to the infirmary?" She bent almost double in pain. "Now!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks for the wonderful response to this story. This will be the last update for a couple of days because sick kids and work are going to have to take precedence over writing but I think you will forgive me after you read this chapter.**

Jack recognised Sam was in labour almost immediately and thanked whatever Gods were actually out there that he had made it back in time. Although he had hoped to be able to talk to Sam before she had the baby, at the moment he was too damn grateful not to have missed the big event.

"Don't worry, I will get you there in plenty of time." Jack said soothingly.

The words seemed to have a calming effect on Sam because she lost the terrified look she had been wearing and now only looked scared witless. Jack helped her into his truck and headed towards the mountain. As they drove Jack noticed Sam's breathing change to shallow pants.

"Hang in there Carter, nearly there." Jack said to reassure himself as much as her.

Ten minutes later Sam was lying back on an infirmary bed while waiting for Janet to come and examine her and hook her up to a foetal monitor. It was while he was standing there that Jack realised they had never spoken about whether Sam wanted him present for the birth.

"Ummm, so I guess I should probably go let General Hammond know I'm back and," he waved his hand at her, "you know, let him know what's going on."

If Sam was disappointed then she certainly didn't show it, inside however she was wondering if she should ask him to stay. It wasn't like they were a couple and were planning to keep the baby, but knowing the colonel he would probably want to stay out of some misguided sense of duty.

"Sure, I'm good. Janet will be here in a minute." And sure enough, as soon as she had uttered the words Janet entered the infirmary, pushing the foetal monitor, with a smile on her face.

"Col. O'Neill, good to have you back." Janet hoped desperately that his return would mean her friends could sort their relationship out so they could be happy.

"Good to be back Doc." He smiled at the tiny woman. "So you sure you don't need me here?" He addressed Sam.

Her mind screamed. Yes! I need you. I need you to love me like Jonah loved Thera, I need you to tell me we can be together, I need you to tell me not to give this baby away and we will raise it together. Instead she said, "I'm fine."

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Jack knocked on the Generals door.

"Good to have you back son." The General said kindly.

"Good to be back sir. Just to let you know I bought Sam in with me, she's in the infirmary."

"It's time?" The General asked.

"Apparently so."

Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to the general.

General Hammond looked at the man in front of him questioningly as he opened the piece of paper.

"Son I can't accept this." The General said sadly.

Before Jack had a chance to argue Walter knocked on the door. "Excuse me sirs, I just had a call from Dr Frasier," he turned to address Col. O'Neill, "sir, you presence is requested in the infirmary immediately. Before either General Hammond or Walter Harrimen had a chance to ask what was happening Jack was out of his seat and bolting towards the infirmary.

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"Sam, I can't give you a c-section, you left it too long to come in." Janet explained to the woman as she came down from yet another intense contraction.

"I can't do this Janet, not like this." Sam Carter almost begged her friend

"Yes you can Sam, you can do this." Janet looked at the monitor beside the bed. "Okay here comes another one, remember, deep breaths and focus."

Sam grabbed her friends hand and squeezed tightly, her contractions were coming almost on top of each other now and she was exhausted.

"Jack. I want Jack!" Sam panted as the contraction subsided.

"Of course Sam I'll have him paged." Janet went directly to the phone on the wall and asked for Col. O'Neill be paged to the infirmary.

Less than two minutes later Jack O'Neill came sliding through the door of the infirmary, obviously having run from wherever he had been. Janet greeted him before he had a chance to see Sam.

"She asked for you Col. O'Neill, she's exhausted and in a lot of pain, I do not want her upset."

Jack merely nodded at the petite doctor and made his way over to Sam's side. "Hey there." He said softly.

"I'm sorry," Sam panted as another contraction finished. "I just…..I needed you to be here." Another contraction began to build and Sam grasped Jacks hand and squeezed tightly.

"Wouldn't be anywhere else Sam." He said gently, using her name so she would understand he was here as her friend and not as her commanding officer.

"Good." She smiled weakly. "God! Janet I need to push!" Sam had an overwhelming desire to push the child from her body. Janet came over and did a quick check and smiled.

"Looks like you're about to have a baby Sam." Everything moved very quickly after that. Sam bore down and pushed with all her might. "That's it Sam a couple more pushes like that and you will be done."

Sam shook her head from side to side. "I can't, I can't do this."

Jack leaned forward and whispered. "Yes you can Sam, you can do anything, you are incredible and amazing, you _can_ do this." His words seemed to give her the strength she needed and as she pushed again she heard Janet say she could see the baby's head.

Three more pushes and Sam delivered the baby's head, after that she felt a slippery rush and Janet placed a wet, pink bundle on Sam's stomach. "It's a girl." Janet said quietly.

Sam took one look at the tiny baby she now cradled in her arms and immediately fell in love. The conception of the baby no longer mattered, this was her baby and she would love and protect it for the rest of her life, there was no longer any question, there would be no adoption, Major Samantha Carter just became a mother and nothing else mattered. She looked over at Jack and saw tears in his eyes.

"I can't put her up for adoption." Sam whispered hoping he would understand her decision.

"Good." Was his awed response as he reached out his hand to touch the tiny child.

"I don't know how we are going to do this but I can't give her away."

"Neither can I. Sam, she may have been conceived by Jonah and Thera but while I was at the cabin I realised a few things, Jonah is part of me and always will be, what Jonah felt for Thera, well, those feelings weren't part of the false memories I was given. I couldn't have given Jonah's child away because it would be the same as giving my child away. Sam, this beautiful little girl is ours."

Tears streamed down Sam's face, tears of exhaustion and of hope.


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you all so much for the wonderful response to the last chapter - glad everyone was happy with the outcome. Here is some fluffiness because they just had a baby and they deserve some happy times and yes the baby gets a name!**

Jack sat in the infirmary cradling his hour old daughter, fairly sure he was still sporting the grin that hadn't left his face since Sam told him she had no intention of putting their baby up for adoption. Logically he knew there was so much they had to sort out but for this precious moment in time he was just going to savour holding his baby girl.

"You want to feed her?" Jack asked hesitantly. Everything had been so intense from the moment he knocked on her door three hours ago, nothing between them had been resolved let alone discussed and truthfully at the moment he didn't want to.

"Yeah, I suppose I should." Sam smiled at him. It was not something she had been expecting to do, she had been planning to have the baby adopted but one look at her and she knew she wanted her baby more than anything. She now knew the meaning of love at first sight.

Jack passed the baby over to her. He didn't want to leave but realised Sam may not comfortable with him sitting there watching her nurse the baby. She obviously sensed his hesitation and reached out to grasp his hand. "I don't mind if you want to stay." She said almost shyly.

"You sure?" Sam blushed slightly and nodded. She lifted her top and placed the baby at her breast and winced as the tiny mouth latched onto her. "You okay?" Jack asked concerned when he saw she was in pain.

"Yeah – just didn't know it would hurt this much. Is that normal?"

"Dunno Carter ….. Sara never….. Charlie went straight onto a bottle." Sam smiled. For some reason it made her happy that she was doing something Sara never had.

"Oh okay then …. so I guess all three of us are novices at this then." She smiled.

"I wouldn't say that Carter, one of us seems to know exactly what she is doing." Jack smiled and indicated his head towards their daughter, still in awe that until an hour ago the little miracle currently in Sam's arms had been inside her.

"You know Carter, you have done some pretty amazing things in your time, but this," he touched his tiny daughter's foot, "this is just spectacular."

Sam laughed lightly, the pain having started to subside now that the baby was sucking.

"You had any thoughts about a name?" He asked.

"Not really. I didn't think I would have to." She said quietly, feeling embarrassed and guilty that she had even thought about handing the tiny angel in her arms over to strangers. "What about you Sir, any thoughts?"

"Yeah Carter, I think we just had a kid, I think you should call me Jack." Jack realised he probably spoke more harshly than he intended.

Sam dropped her head and lightly stroked the soft skin on the baby's cheek and took a deep breath and spoke quietly. "I can't. I can't think of you as 'Jack' or call you 'Jack' and still maintain some kind of professional relationship. It was hard enough before all this but now…."

"Ahhh." Jack finally understood why he had been 'Sirred' and 'Coloneled' to within an inch of his life for the last few years. "The thing is Carter, we have this little one to consider now," Jack reached out and stroked the baby's downy head and noticed how Sam's breath hitched slightly at the proximity of his hand to her breast. Jack smiled, so she wasn't immune to him, things were looking up. "The thing is Carter those frat regs, they are there for a damn good reason." Jack said quietly and took her hand in his. "It was hard enough before, to put you in life threatening situations on a regular basis, I know there is no way I could put the mother of my child in those situations." Sam opened her mouth indignantly.

"Hold your horses there Carter, this has nothing to do with your ability as a soldier, in fact there is no-one I would prefer to have watching my six than you, it does however, have everything to do with the fact that if something happens to the both of us while we are out there", he waved his hand, "what happens to her?"

Sam deflated visibly. She knew what it was to grow up without a mother, how could she even entertain the possibility of that happening to her own daughter? In that moment she knew without a doubt that her time on a front line team had come to an end. Surprisingly she was fine with the decision, in fact it was almost a relief, not because she didn't want to fight the Gou'ld anymore, but if she and Jack were not on the same team there might be a chance for them to give their baby a family.

She looked at Jack. "We have a lot to talk about." She said quietly.

"Understatement Carter, but let's leave it for the moment. Let's just enjoy her." He reached up to stroke the baby's head again. He couldn't help himself, it was as if by constantly touching her he was reassuring himself that she was really here and not going anywhere. "And I really think we should come up with a name because you know half the SCG is going to be traipsing through here sometime in the next few hours and the first question every single one of them is going to ask is 'what's her name?'"

Sam smiled. "I like the name Rachel."

Jack grinned like an idiot. "Rachel – I like it. Rachel O'Neill, welcome to the world."

Sam looked at him and frowned. "I …. ah ….well I assumed she would be Rachel Carter." As she said the words she saw the hurt in his eyes before he had a chance to hide it.

"Lot to talk about Carter." He said quietly as Daniel knocked on the door and poked his head around the door asking if they were ready for visitors yet.

"You betcha Dannyboy, come have a look at the most beautiful girl in the world." Daniel raised an eyebrow wondering exactly which one of the females in the room her was referring to.


	14. Chapter 14

**This story is kind of taking on a life of it's own - especially now that I am back in my fluffy comfort zone. Thanks again to everyone who has left me a review to let me know they are enjoying the story - every single one of them has made me smile**.

Jack looked at the precious bundle in his arms. Rachel was awake yet again and Jack wondered if this was the feeding that was going to be her mother's undoing. Sam Carter had pulled more all-nighters in order to save humanity throughout several galaxies than he would care to think about but he had a feeling that the tiny little madam in his arms just might be the end of her.

He quietly knocked on Sam's door. "Sam?" He said quietly. She didn't stir. "Sam?" He tried a little louder. Still nothing. It wasn't surprising really, Rachel hadn't sleep for more than three hours at a time since she was born three weeks ago and even he could tell Sam was exhausted. He gently sat on the edge of the bed and nudged her which seemed to work.

"Again?" She sighed as she sat up in bed and reached for the baby.

Rachel's cries quieted as she latched on to her mother's breast and Sam leaned her head against the bed head and closed her eyes.

"Carter you can't keep this up. She is waking up every three hours and then feeding for an hour – even you can't exist on that amount of sleep."

Sam cracked one eye open. "And what exactly do you suggest? Do we let her scream or starve her?" She knew it came out far more waspishly than she intended but at this point she was too tired to care about the colonel's feelings.

"I was thinking of maybe giving her a bottle during the night." He told her as if speaking to a child.

Sam opened both her eyes. "All the books say that breastfeeding is best for a baby, particularly in the first few months."

Jack glanced down at the massive pile of baby books Carter had accumulated in the last couple of weeks, knowing full well she had devoured every page of every book. "Do those books mention anything about mothers falling over from exhaustion not being good for the baby?"

Sam sighed and tried to find the words to make him understand. "I need everything to be perfect for her."

"Why?" He drawled. Sam didn't want to talk about this, she didn't like to admit her failings especially to him. "Carter?"

"Because I gave her such a crappy start to life – I owe it to her to make everything as perfect as I can now!"

"Oookkkaaaay" Jack had no idea where this outburst had come from and he was pretty sure a lot of it had to do with lack of sleep and hormones but he was smart enough not to mention it. "You wanna tell me why you think you gave her such a crappy start because, quite frankly Carter, I am not seeing it."

"Sir, I was planning to give her away." Sam whispered.

"Sam what we went through, it was a lot to deal with, at the time your reasoning, well, I didn't exactly argue with you did I? The important thing is we came to our senses and she is healthy and loved – she's three weeks old, I promise you that is all she needs at the moment." Jack moved so he was stretched out next to her on the bed, relieved to be straightening his legs on a bed, three weeks in the single bed in Carter's spare room was starting to take its toll on his joints.

"I just feel so guilty. I want to make it up to her." Sam admitted.

"You gotta move past the guilt Carter, otherwise she is going to play you until she is the most spoilt child in the galaxy." He grinned at her. "Now, what did we agree about you calling me Sir?"

"That I wouldn't do it unless we were at work?"

"And yet I distinctly heard you address me as 'sir' a couple of minutes ago."

"Slip of the tongue?" She grinned.

"Hmmmm. Carter I can't tell you how grateful I am that you agreed to let me move in here for her first few weeks but this isn't going to work if you constantly think of me as your commanding officer and not as her father." Jack said seriously.

Sam turned to look at the man lying next to her surprised by his statement. "I am the one who is grateful, I couldn't have done this without you. I know we still need to talk about how we are going to do this long term but if the last three weeks are anything to go by…..well …..you are a wonderful father."

"Thanks Carter." He said sincerely, she had no idea how much those words meant to him.

They sat in companionable silence while their daughter continued feeding. Sam removed the now sleeping Rachel from her breast and handed her to Jack who placed her on his chest to continue sleeping and closed his eyes.

As Sam adjusted her pyjamas, she couldn't help smile at the sight of them. "Why do you always call me Carter?" She asked quietly. It was something that had been playing on her mind since he insisted she didn't call him 'sir'.

His eyes popped open at the question. Jack knew he could have made something up but if they wanted to move their relationship forward he had to be honest with her. "I guess at first it was for the same reason you always called me sir." He hoped that might be enough to satisfy his curiosity, he should really have known better.

"And now?"

"Ahh now….." He took a deep breath, "now I think of you as 'my' Carter, everyone else calls you Sam or Major…I'm the only one who calls you Carter."

Sam sat there silently absorbing what he had just told her, eventually she said, "so it's a term of endearment?"

"Yeah I guess you could say that." Whoever the jackass was that said 'honesty is the best policy' had obviously never had a conversation like this. "You want me to stop calling you that?"

"No, I like it. I like that it's you name for me." Jack made a move to sit up return Rachel to her cradle and return to his own uncomfortable bed. "Stay." Sam said quietly. Jack looked over at her not sure he had heard her properly. "She looks so comfortable, why don't you just leave her asleep there."

Jack didn't know what to make of her request but decided to take it at face value and wriggled down the bed until his head was resting on the pillow and shut his eyes.

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Six hours later Sam opened her eyes and became aware of two things. The first was that she was wrapped around Jack, her head resting on his shoulder and his arm wrapped protectively anround her, she had obviously having snuggled closer to him and Rachel while she was asleep. The second, more worrying thing was that Rachel had slept for six hours which meant Sam's breasts felt like they were about to burst.

As she thought about her desperate need to feed her daughter her body reacted and Jack work up to Sam wrapped around him and a growing wet patch on his T-shirt. "Ah Carter? You feeling an urge to feed Rachel?"

Sam disentangled her body from his and immediately saw what had happened and blushed with embarrassment. "I am so sorry."

Jack grinned at her. "Don't sweat it." He handed Rachel over. "But I think she will benefit from it far more than my t-shirt." Jack's words obviously did nothing to ease her mortification at her breast milk leaking over him, she couldn't even look at him. He reached out and tilted her chin so she was looking at him. "Carter, I love that you are feeding our daughter, I love watching you feed our daughter, it's beautiful and natural and sexy as hell, I love sleeping with the two of you in my arms and I really love that she slept six straight hours. If the price of all that is a wet T-shirt then I consider myself a damn lucky man." Without thinking about it he leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to hers. It wasn't a kiss filled with passion, or a kiss that was going to lead to anything further but a kiss filled with promise.


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry about the delay in updating and thanks for all the lovely reviews - I hope I have replied to them all but if I have missed anyone I'm really sorry.**

"You know all the books say this is really bad?" Sam said as Jack gently put their daughter down on the bed in front of her.

"Ack! Carter stop overthinking this. For the last week we have done everything to get her to sleep in her own room, in her own bed and every time she wakes up. We have even tried putting her in bed with just you or with just me, neither of which gave us any more than three hours of sleep. If having her in bed with the two of us means we get seven consecutive hours of sleep then I say we burn the books and just go with it!"

"I suppose." Sam said reluctantly. If truth be told she had no real problem having Rachel in bed with her and like Jack said they all slept much better when they were in bed together, it was just that having Jack in her bed was making her think all kinds of things were possible and she knew logically that it was not smart. However, the tiny part of her that was still Thera loved being wrapped in his arms each night.

"I suppose once we are no longer sleep-deprived we can seriously try and break all the bad habits we are getting into." Sam said thoughtfully.

Jack slid into the bed behind Sam and spooned against her body so he could drape his arm across her torso and put his hand on Rachel. Initially when their daughter had decided this was the only acceptable way for her to sleep they had tried to keep their distance but had woken up every morning in this position, for the last two nights they hadn't bothered with the pretence of distance.

They were silent for a few minutes, both obviously lost in their own thoughts. "I don't want to be on a frontline team." "I tried to give Hammond my retirement papers." They said in unison.

Sam tilted her head back so she could see Jack's face.

"You want to retire?"

"You want to leave SG-1?" Again they spoke in unison.

"I guess we are having the talk then?" Jack asked.

"I guess we are." They were silent again, each hoping the other would start the conversation they had been putting off for over four weeks. Eventually Sam realised she would have to be the one to begin.

"I don't want to be on a frontline team anymore. I know what it was like to lose my mother – I don't want Rachel to have to go through that."

"Carter there are no guarantees in life, you could walk across the road tomorrow and get hit by a bus." Sam didn't even bother to dignify that comment with a response but merely raised one eyebrow in a manner that Teal'c would have been proud of. "Yeah, yeah, alright our jobs are dangerous. But this is you Carter, somehow I can't see you being satisfied sitting at home all day changing nappies – that brain of yours needs to be used otherwise you'll go crazy."

Sam smiled at how well he knew her. "I never said anything about not working – you're right, I need to work but I think I can be useful without being shot at on a regular basis."

"Where's the fun in that?" Jack asked jokingly. "Seriously though, I assume you have a plan?"

"Actually I do." She grinned. "At the moment we are using a retrofitted Goa'uld hyper-drive on the X-301. I think we need to reverse engineer our own and once we have done that I can design a fully earth made vessel capable of inter-stellar travel."

Jack's eyes began to glaze over. "Inter-stellar travel you say, cool". He said in such a way that although he thought the concept was 'cool' the technical side of making it happen was worse than any torture their enemies could dream up.

"Actually sir, to have a platform on which to launch an attack on the Goa'uld could give us a very big strategic advantage."

"Ah ah ah ah ah Carter! There is that word again."

Sam looked sheepish. "Sorry, force of habit when we are talking work."

"So in theory you could remain a member of SG-1 and be kinda seconded to this hyper-drive thing?"

"I suppose, in theory I could."

"Which would mean you could come back to the team." Jack wasn't comfortable about letting the best 2IC he had ever had just leave and he was even less comfortable with the thought of not seeing her everyday.

"Jack, I used to think that the world as we know it would come to an end if I wasn't out there fighting the Gou'ld, but if I learnt nothing else from our time on that planet it was that the world went on without me. I feel terribly arrogant now when I think about it but I feel I can still make a significant contribution. I don't _want_ to be on SG-1 anymore."

They were silent again for a few moments. "So you going to tell me about retiring?" She asked.

"Not a lot to tell, I handed Hammond my retirement papers, he refused to accept them." Jack said simply.

"Why?"

"Didn't say." Sam was beginning to get frustrated, having a conversation with this man was like pulling teeth sometimes.

"Jack!"

"Honestly, I don't know, I was paged to the infirmary before we had a chance to discuss it any further. Turns out my reasons for retiring no longer exist, so no problem."

Sam silently thought about what he said but more telling was what he didn't say. Eventually all the pieces fell into place for her. "You were going to raise Rachel." She said quietly.

"Yeah". Sam was quiet while she thought about his response.

"And then I decided to keep her…"

"Yeah."

"Jack?"

Jack smiled at her. "It's all good Carter, you can have fun with your doohickeys and still be there for her and I can go off and shoot the bad guys and…..come visit when I get home." He finished not really liking the idea of not being able to come home to his daughter.

Sam could hear the dissatisfaction with that arrangement in his voice. "You want to have that conversation now?" She asked, not really sure that she wanted to have it right now but it was out there and they both knew it would have to be addressed eventually.

"Not really. But I guess we have to have it sometime, preferably before she goes away to college."

"You need to be part of her life." She stated without question

"Yep"

"So any ideas of how you want to do this?" Plenty of them Jack thought to himself, all of them ending with a naked Sam in his arms every night for the rest of their lives.

"Not a clue. You?" Lots, she thought to herself, most of them involving rings and houses and vows.

"Nup."

"Let's sleep on it then and we can talk some more in the morning."

Sam looked down at her daughter knowing they had just prolonged the inevitable discussion but she couldn't be sorry at the moment because as she looked down Rachel opened her eyes and on seeing her mother, she smiled.

"Jack," Sam whispered in awe, "her first smile." Jack looked over Sam's shoulder and as soon as she focussed on her father's face, Rachel smiled again.

Jack thought about how many of Charlie's 'firsts' he had missed and knew without a doubt he didn't want to miss any of Rachel' s. "Carter, one thing I am sure of is that I don't want to miss any moment of her life because I am not here."

"What exactly are you saying?" Sam asked tentatively.

"Honestly I don't know. All I know is that I want, no need, to be here, with her."

"Okay."

"That's it? Just okay?"

"Jack, you were prepared to retire to raise her by yourself, you have shown me more ways than I can count that you are devoted to her, I couldn't deprive you of her any more that I could deprive her of you. You are her father and for her sake we will make it work."

"Does that mean I am staying?"

"I guess it does." Sam smiled her mega-watt smile, happy they finally had a plan.

"In that case I _have_ to get bigger bed for your spare room."


	16. Chapter 16

**I am so sorry I haven't updated this for a while - being a mum-taxi seems to have become a full-time job lately. Anyway here is a nice long chapter to try and make up for it. Thanks again to everyone who has left a review I think I have replied to them all (if I missed one I'm sorry) it means so much to me that you have taken the time to let me know you are enjoying.**

"Explain to me again why we didn't do this a week ago?" Jack asked as he looked down at their peacefully sleeping daughter – a daughter who had been asleep in her own bed coming up on five hours.

"The books said that pacifiers were not the solution – they can often hinder speech development and can cause issues when they get teeth…"

Jack cut her off. "But she's sleeping Carter. In her own bed no less."

"Yes." Sam said despondently. Jack may not have thought ahead to the night but she had. With Rachel sleeping in her own bassinet it meant there was no need for Jack to share her bed and she found that she quite liked sharing a bed with Jack. As she stood there wondering if she could come up with a plausible reason for Jack not to return to the spare room Rachel began to stir. Once she opened her eyes and saw her mother and father she graced them with a wide, toothless grin and all thoughts of sleeping arrangements left Sam's head.

That evening after feeding Rachel a nervous Sam attempted to subtly raise the question of sleeping arrangements. "So do you think she will sleep during the night in her own room or should we move the bassinet into my room so we don't tempt fate?"

Jack looked at Sam quizzically wondering why on Earth she would want the baby back in with her when they had finally got her sleeping in her own room and then it dawned on him that if Rachel wasn't in Sam's room then there was no reason for him to be either. Jack looked down at the baby sleeping in his arms and silently begged her forgiveness and sent her the message that it was all for the sake of their family.

"Actually, while she is so little it probably would be for the best if she was in with us – at least until she is sleeping through the night."

Sam beamed at him. "Probably will be easier for that early morning feed."

"Yep. " Jack affirmed trying not to grin at how simple that had been. "I'll just go and move her bassinet."

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"Carter? You nearly ready?" Jack O'Neill looked down at his daughter and blew a raspberry on her tiny foot, which earned him a gummy grin, just the reaction he was hoping for. "Who knew your mother could be such a girl when it comes to getting ready in the morning." He blew on the other little foot which got the same reaction as before. "Of course, I suppose it' a good thing she is a girl, otherwise we wouldn't have you. Your mother is quite a woman you know, probably the smartest person I know, you probably want her brains, of course you already have her beauty, which is a good thing. In fact I think it would be best that you just take after you mother completely."

Sam, who had been standing there listening to Jack's conversation with their daughter, decided to make him aware of her presence. "I don't know Jack, you have certain qualities I think our daughter would be lucky to have inherited."

Jack turned and smiled at her. "Well about time! Never would have picked you as one of those women who take forever to get ready in the morning Carter."

Sam looked at him indignantly. "I was actually ready before you _sir_. I however, had to pack a diaper bag, express enough milk for the day _and_ get your daughter ready, you on the other hand managed to have a shower and get dressed!"

Jack had the good grace to look a bit sheepish. "I guess tomorrow I can be a bit more helpful."

"Thank you, I appreciate it." Sam watched as Jack placed six week old, Rachel in her baby carrier and she was struck suddenly by how small and vulnerable her baby looked and became thoughtful. "Am I a bad mother for returning to work when she is so tiny?"

Jack looked at her dumbfounded. "Carter – we both know you are a genius, I can't imagine a brain like yours would be content at home for very long, not that there would be anything wrong if that is what you wanted but you and I both know you are itching to get back to your lab and start fiddling with your doohickeys. We try you working three days a week for a while and if we feel like it isn't working we'll come up with a plan B."

Sam sighed and once again questioned her mothering abilities because she wanted to return to work. Jack could almost see what she was thinking. "Carter you are a wonderful mother, we have found a wonderful woman to care for her while we are at work, Rachel is thriving – quit worrying so much!"

"You think I'm a good mother?" Sam asked obviously needing reassurance.

Jack walked over and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Sam, I could not ask for a better mother for my child. This situation is far from normal or easy and you have handled the whole thing with grace and dignity and you constantly amaze me with everything you do, you are the most incredible woman I know." He gently wiped away the tear that was slipping down her cheek. "There is just one thing though."

"What?" Sam said quietly, prepared to give this wonderful man just about anything.

"Can we burn the damn baby books?"

Sam laughed. "You're right this situation is far from normal. I don't think there is a book written that can possibly cover our family. Consider the books gone."

"Sweet. Now can we get this show on the road – I promised Danny and Teal'c we would grab breakfast with them and we still have to drop Rachel at Mrs McNamara's."

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"Well everything looks good Sam. You have recovered from the birth perfectly, in fact I would say you are fine to resume all _normal_ activity." Janet stressed the word 'normal' and grinned suggestively, leaving Sam with no doubt about what her friend meant.

"Janet!" Sam couldn't believe what Janet was suggesting. "You know our relationship isn't like that! Col. O'Neill is still my commanding officer!"

"Sam you know as well as I do that after your meeting with General Hammond later this morning that will no longer be the case."

"You don't know that for sure," Sam said quietly. "I emailed him my proposal two weeks ago and haven't heard a thing. I have no idea what has been decided."

"Come on, let's get a coffee in my office." Janet said sensing her friend needed to talk.

Five minutes later they were seated in Janet's office drinking their coffee. "I'm sorry about before Sam, about suggesting you and Col. O'Neill were more than friends."

Sam sighed. "We are more than friends, Janet, just not like that."

"Bu you would like it to be like that?" Janet prompted.

"Yes. No. I don't know." Sam's confusion was evident. "I don't know where Thera's feelings end and mine start. But when I sleep in his arms I feel …" Sam had trouble finishing the sentence.

"Safe? Loved?" Janet prompted.

"Yes." Sam said quietly. "And he is so incredible with Rachel, he is truly the most wonderful father."

"Hang on did you say 'when you sleep in his arms?' Does that mean you and he…?" Janet used some interesting hand gestures to complete her sentence.

"No! You only just gave me the all clear and commanding officer – remember? We just happen to have had a daughter who insists on the whole family sleeping in the same room." Janet grinned wondering if Rachel sensed her parents less than perfect relationship.

"I guess I was just hoping that you and Col. O'Neill had managed to find the Jonah and Thera parts of you." Janet told her honestly.

"Do you really think Jonah and Thera are part of us? Or are they personalities that came with the memory stamp?" Sam asked.

"Oh Sam, trust me they are part of who you are, parts of Jack and Sam kept showing through, from what you said Jonah was a natural leader and when you came back here he would have laid down his life to protect you and the baby and even his mannerisms and speech patterns were Col. O'Neill and it was the same with you. Parts of Sam were always just there under the surface of Thera. Jonah and Thera, they just gave us all glimpse of what Jack and Sam could be like if they just allowed themselves to be in love."

Sam dropped her head into her hands. "It's all so confusing."

Janet reached out and took her friends hand. "It's really not Sam. I think if you and Col. O'Neill were just honest with each other you would find it's not really confusing at all."

Sam looked up and realised Janet was right. She loved Jack O'Neill the same way Thera loved Jonah. She finally knew what she wanted to do and the sooner the better.

"So would you and Cassie be interested in babysitting tonight?"

Janet grinned. "Of course we will."

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"Sam welcome back to work." General Hammond greeted her with a hug. "And how is Rachel?"

"Thank you sir. Rachel is wonderful, smiling and babbling all the time."

"Good to hear. Have a seat." He indicated the chair opposite him. "I'll get right to the point. I have talked to the Joint Chiefs about your proposal and to say they were excited about the possibility of inter-stellar travel would be an understatement. You have a go to work out of Cheyenne Mountain three days a week with the understanding that you will travel to Area 51 as needed when the technology moves to implementation."

Sam smiled, happy and excited to be working on the hyperdrive.

"You can select your own team of scientists as you see fit and all will report directly to you." General Hammond smiled knowing the implication of his next piece of news. "Unfortunately as you will no longer be a member of SG-1 you will no longer be reporting to Col. O'Neill, as you essentially have your own team you will be reporting directly to me."

Tension that Sam didn't even know she had, suddenly lifted. If her future hadn't been clear in Janet's office it certainly was now. She smiled widely. "Thank you sir. I hope I can live up to the faith you and the Joint Chiefs have placed in me."

"You have never let us down yet Major, I can't imagine you starting now. Now I assume you would like to brief your former team of your new orders?".

"Yes Sir." Sam rose to leave the General's office, feeling happier and more hopeful about her future than she ever had in her life.


	17. Chapter 17

**I am so sorry for the delay in updating - I was called in for extra work this week. This is only half the chapter I had planned but it seemed like a good place to stop so I could at least post an update. Thanks again for the wonderful response to this story - I adore this fandom!**

As Jack O'Neill drove her realised his life couldn't get much better than this, a beautiful woman beside him and their adorable daughter firmly secured in the back seat. Okay so it could get a tiny bit better, the beautiful woman could be wearing his ring and there could be a couple more kids secured in the back seat, but he had a plan for one which would hopefully lead to the other. Yep, life was good.

"I asked Danny-boy and T to come over tonight to watch Rachel." He said out of the blue. "Hope that was okay? I thought we could maybe go out and get a bit to eat – and you know – talk?"

Sam turned and looked at the man beside her and smiled. "Great minds. I asked Janet and Cass over for the same reason."

Jack let out an inaudible sigh of relief. "So you're okay with us going out?"

"Sure."

"I wasn't sure if you would be okay leaving her after being at work all day."

"It's fine. It's not like we will leave before she is asleep and we'll be back before she wakes up, she won't even know we are gone." Sam smiled, touched by his thoughtfulness.

"So, now all we need to do is work out what we are going to do about the plethora of babysitters."

Sam laughed lightly. "Well I certainly will not be telling Cassie she can't come over to look after Rachel, she has been dying to come and see her."

"Ah no – of the four of them she scares me the most." Jack shuddered. He was learning about baby girls, little girls he could cope with but teenage girls terrified him. "Promise me when Rachel gets to Cassie's age we will just lock her in her room and let her out once she is through puberty." Jack begged.

Sam laughed. "Don't tell me the thought of a teenage daughter has a black-ops trained, flyboy scared?"

"More like terrified. Please tell me you were an easy teenager and Rachel will take after you."

Sam was silent for a while thinking about her teenage years. Sad and lonely were probably the best ways to describe them. Losing her mother and being three years younger than everyone else I her grade had made her socially awkward. Add to that having a father in the military and moving every couple of years, all added up to her teenage years being miserable.

"No Jack – believe me we really don't want her to take after me." Sam said sadly.

"Carter?" Jack questioned hearing the sadness in her voice.

Sam took a deep breath, if they were to have the kind of relationship she hoped then he deserved the truth. "It's not easy to be the brightest person in the class when you have already skipped three grades, add to that – well you've met my father." Jack added in the fact that she had lost her mother when she was fourteen and knew how much that had affected her. "Let's just say I was pretty miserable, I don't ever want Rachel to feel like that."

"She won't." Jack stated firmly. "We will both be here for her and if she does happen to be a child genius like her mother," he smiled and squeezed her hand, "well who better to know how to deal with it than her genius mother. And of course I will be there to make sure she knows how to just be a kid."

Sam laughed. "Yes Jack – you are uniquely qualified to make sure she knows how to be a kid."

Jacked sensed the need to lighten the mood. "So, all these babysitters…I say we let 'em all look after her, if nothing else it should make for some amusing stories."

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Several hours later Jack and Sam were back in the car headed towards O'Malleys. Jack had thought about booking somewhere a bit fancier but reasoned that neither of them would be all that comfortable at a fancy restaurant and he really wanted Sam to feel comfortable tonight.

Once the waitress had shown them to their table and they had placed their orders Jack reached across the table and clasped Sam's hand and began to gently caress her knuckles. "Thanks for coming out with me tonight."

Sam smiled at the gorgeous man across from her. "It was my pleasure, trust me."

"So permanently chained to you lab, huh. You sure you're really happy with that?" Jack asked.

Sam looked thoughtful for a moment. "Actually I am. Don't get me wrong, I know I will miss going through the gate, but what I am trading it for is more than worth it."

"Hyperdrives?" Jack asked not really sure he could believe she was entirely happy about trading gate travel for developing hyperdrive technology.

"Actually I was thinking more of Rachel. She is more than worth trading gate travel for."

"Oh yeah of course." Jack was starting to get nervous and Sam was sensing there was something wrong. Maybe he wasn't happy with her decision to leave SG-1. He had said he would support whatever decision she made but maybe now that it was a reality he wasn't feeling all that supportive. "So I've been thinking….." But before Jack could finish his sentence they were interrupted.

"Sam! Sam Carter!" Sam looked to where the familiar voice was coming from. Before she knew what was happening she was being hauled out of her seat and enveloped in a huge hug.

"Cam." She squeaked.

"God you are a sight for sore eyes. Last I heard you were MIA."

"Rumours of my disappearance were premature", she grinned as he released her from the hug but kept his arm around her shoulders just as she kept hers around his waist.

"What are you doing in Colorado Springs?"

"I've been temporarily transferred to Peterson and will probably be sent to Nevada sometime in the next twelve months – testing some new plane they are developing."

Sam quickly realised Cam was the pilot they had selected to work with her in the development of the hyperdrive and she couldn't have been happier, he was a hell of a pilot.

Jack cleared his throat to remind them of his presence at the table.

"Oh sorry!" Sam said a bit flustered. "Col. Jack O'Neill, this is Captain Cameron Mitchell, we were at the academy together." Sam explained.

Jack took in the picture before him. Sam and Cameron were clearly close and they made a very attractive couple standing there with their arms around each other. Suddenly Jack felt very old and the box residing in his pants pocket felt like a really, really stupid idea.


	18. Chapter 18

**Thank you all so much for the incredible respose to this story - you have made it the most read and reviewed story I have written. I am posting this before heading off to work and I haven't had a chance to read over it as many times as usually do so m apologies for any mistakes.**

Jack had been quiet and moody the whole drive home. In fact when she thought about it he had been quiet and moody since she introduced him to Cam. It hadn't seemed to matter what she said or did for the rest of the meal after Cam left, Jack had barely spoken to her. So much for going out to dinner to 'talk', as far as she was concerned their 'date' had been a disaster and she blamed Jack entirely. The more she tried to snap him out of his bad mood the madder she became.

Jack sat in silence in the car, pretending to concentrate on driving but in fact was mentally berating himself for ever thinking someone as incredible as Samantha Carter would ever be interested in someone as physically and emotionally 'broken' as him. She belonged with someone like Cam Mitchell.

"I've been thinking that maybe I should move back to my own place. I can still be part of Rachel's life without constantly being under your feet….. you know, if you want a social life…..would probably be better if I wasn't living with you." Jack said quietly.

Sam turned to stare at him dumbfounded. She had no idea what was going on. When they had left for dinner a small part of her had been hoping Jack might actually propose to her tonight and now he was planning to move out so she could have a social life – talk about blowing hot and cold. As she thought about his behaviour this evening she started to get angry. By the time they pulled into the drive she had worked herself up to furious.

Sam got out of the truck and slammed the door and stormed into the house. The sight of Teal'c cradling her tiny baby calmed her down slightly until Jack entered the room behind her.

Janet took one look at their faces and realised immediately that the engagement announcement she was hoping for certainly wasn't happening tonight.

Jack walked straight over to Rachel and gently stroked her baby-soft cheek and kissed her forehead. "Thanks for looking after Rachel everyone but I'm tired, I'm going to head off for bed. Carter I'll be out of your hair tomorrow." Jack said quietly and headed off to the spare room to start packing.

"Sam I was just about to make some coffee, you want to come and give me a hand." Janet asked as soon as the colonel had left the room.

Sam knew that was code for 'come into the kitchen and tell me what's going on', unfortunately she wouldn't have any answers for her friend because she was clueless as to what the hell was going on in Jack's head.

Once they were in the kitchen Janet put the kettle on before turning to Sam. "So what did he mean he would be out of your hair tomorrow?"

"Apparently he thinks it would be a good idea for him to move out." Sam said quietly.

"Why?"

"Damned if I know." Sam said, her anger returning. "One minute we are having a perfectly lovely dinner and the next thing I know we are driving home and he is planning to move out."

"There must be a little more to it than that." Janet said gently.

"We were having a dinner, and old friend stopped by to say hi and the next thing I know Jack is paying the bill and we are headed home, end of story."

"Wait, and old friend stopped by to say hello?" Janet questioned.

"Yeah, Cam Mitchell, I went to the academy with him, remember you met him that time he called in just before he was deployed to the Gulf?"

Janet certainly did remember him. In fact it was hard to forge someone as good looking as Cam Mitchell and suddenly the Colonels behaviour started to make some sense.

"I bet Cam was happy to see you." Janet probed.

"Yeah last he heard I was still MIA."

"Ahhh."

"Ahhh what Janet?" Sam asked really hoping the coffee would be done soon so she could say goodnight to her friends and go to bed, she just hadn't decided if she wanted to throw something when she got to the privacy of her own room or to curl up in bed and cry.

"Sam, honey, my guess is the Colonel was jealous."

"Jealous of what?" Sam asked, clueless as to what Janet was talking about.

"Jealous of Cam". She said succinctly. "I imagine, knowing the Colonel, it was quickly followed by a healthy dose insecurity."

"What are you talking about Janet?"

"Think about his from the Colonels perspective, you are a lot younger than him and he saw you with Cam, who, even you have to admit, is gorgeous, my guess is he suddenly thought he was too old and not good enough for you."

Sam stood in silence, replaying the evenings events and what Janet said suddenly made a warped kind of sense. Without saying a word she left the kitchen and headed to her spare bedroom.

Sam didn't bother knocking, she flung the door open, shocking Jack as he was pulling clothes from the drawers and putting them in his duffle.

"You idiot!"

"What the hell – Carter?"

"I guess I've been wrong." Sam said confusing him.

"Wrong about what?"

"Wrong about you. All these years I've thought you were just pretending to be stupid but obviously it wasn't just an act!" Sam raised her voice as she got angrier. "You told me when Rachel was born that your feelings and Jonah's were all mixed in together. Don't you think that perhaps it's the same for me?" Jack opened his mouth to respond but Sam didn't give him a chance to speak. "I have been so worried about what feelings are mine and which ones are Thera's that I didn't take the time to realise that it didn't matter. Thera's feelings for Jonah _are_ my feelings for you." Sam took a breath now that she had finally told him.

They stood staring at each other while they both let Sam's words sink in. Finally Jack spoke.

"Just to be clear, Thera's feelings for Jonah were….?"

"She loved him." Sam said quietly having calmed down.

"Right." Jack let the truth of her words sink in. "And you're feelings for me?" He wanted to make sure.

"I love you." She was almost relieved to have finally said it out loud. While he had shown her in a thousand ways, Jonah had never said the words to Thera so when Jack spoke she was shocked.

"I love you too." Jack told her quietly. "Not just because of Thera or Rachel, I love _you_."

"Wow." Sam had not expected him to be so honest about his feelings. "I knew how Jonah felt but he never said the words."

"So if Jonah had proposed to Thera her answer would have been…?"

Sam continued to stare at the man she loved. "She would have said yes."

"Right then. Good to know." Sam continued to stare waiting for him to propose, instead he began unpacking his duffle. "I may have been a bit hasty in wanting to move out."


	19. Chapter 19

**The moment you have been waiting for - I hope this makes up for all the angst and fulfills the promise of happy times (kinda).**

Jack O'Neill was a man with a plan. And not just one plan, he knew better than anyone that Plan A often went pear shaped and this was far too important to go pear shaped so he also had Plans B, C and D. He looked at the flowers on the seat next to him and smiled. He really hoped Plan A worked.

"So Rachel, as much as your mother and I both adore you, tonight you are going to have your first sleepover at Aunty Janet's." Jack spoke to his six week old daughter who was happily blowing raspberries in her carrier in the back of the car. "Now, under normal circumstances there is no way I would let you have a sleepover at such a young age but this is a very important night. Don't tell your mom but tonight I am finally going to ask her to marry me and if all goes to plan, well let's just say if the evening ends up the way I hope then you are far too young to be witnessing such activities." Rachel continued to blow raspberries, comforted by the sound of her father's voice.

Jack pulled up in front of Janet's house and before he even had the door open Cassie was flying down the front walk. "Where is she?"

"Hi to you too Cass." Jack said laconically as Janet joined them by the car.

"To say she is excited would be an understatement." Janet told him with a smile.

Jack began to unload the truck with all the gear Rachel would need for the night and after he had deposited it all in the house and left Janet with several bottles of expressed milk, he kissed his daughter goodnight.

"Sir, don't screw this up." Janet said with a smile as he walked out the front door.

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At exactly 6pm Sam let herself into her house, surprised by its darkness. Jack had left the base at four to pick up Rachael so she couldn't understand why there was no noise or light. As she moved further into the house she saw the flicker of candlelight coming from the dining room and went to investigate.

Sam gasped as she saw Jack standing by a perfectly set table, dressed in a dinner suit and holding a single red rose.

"Jack?"

Jack smiled and moved forward to give her the rose and leant in for a kiss that was filled with promise for the evening.

When they finally broke for air Sam rested her head on Jack's shoulder while she tried to get her emotions under control.

"Rachel is spending the night with Janet and Cass and I have to put the finishing touches on dinner, so why don't you head off to your room and get changed and by that time dinner should be ready." Jack lightly placed a kiss on her forehead.

Sam did as she was told. She was so impressed with the effort Jack had gone to and she really hoped the night was heading towards a proposal and the rest of the evening celebrating in bed but a tiny part of her missed Rachel and felt guilty about not being with her. She mentally shook herself, Rachel would be perfectly fine with Janet and Cass. As she entered her room she saw a dress lying on the bed along with shoes and another rose with a note attached. She immediately reached for the note and began reading.

Sam

I love you. Please join me for dinner in the dining room as soon as you are ready.

Love Jack

Sam smiled, simple and to the point just like the man himself. She quickly changed and headed back to the kitchen.

"Mmmmm smells good". Sam said as she entered the room. Jack turned around at the sound of her voice and his jaw dropped. Sam grinned at him, just the reaction she had been hoping for.

"I always knew you were hot Carter but…..wow!"

Sam did a little spin. "I take it you like?"

"Like doesn't even begin to cover it." Jack moved to pull her into his arms. "How'd I get so lucky?"

"From where I'm standing I'm the lucky one."

Jack brushed off the compliment, still not really sure why she loved him but he certainly wasn't going to try to change her mind.

"Dinner is served m'lady." Jack said with a flourish as he ushered her into the dining room and pulled her chair out for her.

For the next hour they talked and laughed while they ate the meal that Jack had expertly prepared. As they finished their dessert Jack realised the time had come, he had been nervous when he had planned to do this at O'Malley's but tonight he was calm and excited, probably because he was fairly confident about her answer.

Jack reached out and clasped Sam's hands in his. "I would have got down on one knee to do this but after that last mission there is a good chance I may not get up again. But it doesn't matter what position I'm in, the sentiment will always be the same. I love you Sam. You and Rachel are the most important things in my life and while our family may not have started in the most conventional way I don't regret Jonah and Thera, they have given us this chance. Sam – will you marry me?"

Sam felt tears well in her eyes at his beautiful words and for a nanosecond Jack was worried but then she burst into a huge mega-watt smile. "Yes!" She jumped up from her seat and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly.

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"Hey, I never gave you your ring!" Jack said as a very naked Sam Carter curled against him.

"That was because you were too eager to get me into bed." Sam laughed.

"Hmmm well yes I suppose that is true. But you were the one who said you wanted Rachel to have a sibling after we were married."

"After, being the operative word there flyboy." Sam laughed.

"Yes but I'm old and slow Carter, I am going to need lot's and lot's…..and lot's of practice. In fact I am feeling the urge to practice again right now." Jack rolled so Sam was effectively pinned underneath him.

Sam laughed. "I will get the ring eventually right?"

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Jacob Carter let himself into the house. It was dark but he was sure he could hear moaning coming from the bedroom. Sam had been found nearly two months ago but he had been on a mission for the Tok'ra and had only just had the opportunity to get to earth and see for himself that she was really back. George had assured him that she was physically fine but that was as much as he would say and merely suggested he head straight over to Sam's house. The moaning would indicate that his daughter was less than fine.

He opened the door to her room and saw his very naked daughter underneath her equally naked commanding officer.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

Jack and Sam froze at the sound.

"Oh my God dad – get out!" Sam yelled mortified that her father had just walked in on her making love to her fiancé.


	20. Chapter 20

**Wow! As of this chapter this story is officially the most reviewed and most read story I have ever written - thank you so much to every person who has read, reviewed and favourited this story, the highest compliment a writer can be given is to know people are enjoying what they write and I really appreciate it.**

**This picks up right after the mortifying end of the last chapter...**

Jack rested his head on Sam's shoulder. "Way to kill a mood Jacob". He muttered as Sam began to wriggle out from underneath him.

"I guess we should go and face the music." Sam said as she managed to get out of the bed and put on a pair of sweatpants and one of Jack's academy t-shirts she had pilfered a while ago. Jack raised his eyebrow in a move worthy of Teal'c when he saw it. Sam merely shrugged. "It made me feel close to you."

"So now that we are 'close' can I have it back?" Jack asked, secretly thinking how sexy she looked in his clothes.

Sam appeared to consider his request. "Nope", she laughed.

Jack lunged to grab her and began tickling her. She couldn't help laughing as he half-heartedly tried to remove his t-shirt from her as she wriggled around on the bed trying to keep his wandering hands from her flesh.

They both froze when they heard a distinctly unimpressed "I am still waiting and if you two don't get your asses in here in the next five minutes I will come in again."

That was all it took for Sam to spring from the bed and straighten her clothes.

"Maybe I should go over and pick up Rachel." Jack said. Surely he won't want to murder us when we present him with a granddaughter."

"Chicken." Sam smiled

"I like to think of it more as self preservation."

"You can go pick up Rachel as soon as we have explained to my dad." Sam told him firmly.

"Sure 'we' can explain but we both know your safe, it me he is going to want to maim and torture." Jack grumbled.

"Ha! You didn't grow up with him – trust me I am no safer than you."

Jack looked at her puzzled. "Sam, your dad loves you more than anything, there is nothing you could do that would make him love you any less."

"And you would know this how exactly?" Sam asked him.

"Because there is nothing Rachel could ever do that would make me not love her." Jack said quietly. Sam choked up at his words and leaned in to kiss him.

"Now get out of bed before he follows through and comes back in here – because we both know he will."

SJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJ SJ

They entered the kitchen holding hands, which Jacob noticed immediately, but before he had a chance to speak Selmak took over.

"Samantha. Jack. Jacob is most distressed by this apparent change in your relationship, he is very concerned about the impact to your careers." While not strictly true, Jacob was far more concerned about his daughters career than Jack's, Selmak thought it best to take a more diplomatic approach.

"Can I speak with my father please Selmak?" Sam asked knowing she was probably about to get a lecture like no other.

"Of course Samantha." Selmak said right before his eyes glowed. The second Jacob took control he opened his mouth but Sam got in first.

"Before you say something you are bound to regret you will listen." Sam told him firmly as she felt Jack squeeze her hand in support. "I love Jack O'Neill and we are getting married". Jacob went to speak again but Sam held up her hand to stop him. "Ah! My turn." Jacob couldn't help thinking Jack O'Neill had obviously been a bad influence on his daughter. "We were on a planet for nearly a year with no memory dad – Jack and I became close.

"Very close." Jack interjected gaining him a deathly stare from both Carters.

"When we got back," Sam continued, "it took some time for our memories to return, we still believed we were Jonah and Thera. Jonah and Thera loved each other and it turned out that that part of their personalities was not something that could just be stamped into our memories it was instinctively a part of who Jack and I are."

With those words any lingering doubts Jack may have had about Sam and Thera's emotions being confused were erased. Sam loved him and at that moment he wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms but he knew neither Carter would be overly impressed if he acted on that impulse.

Jacob once again opened his mouth to speak. The news that Jack and Sam loved each other wasn't exactly new or surprising to him. The fact that they continued to act on their feelings now that their memories had returned still concerned him.

"I am no longer a member of SG-1 dad. Jack isn't my Commanding officer." Sam explained succinctly.

"What! You gave up SG-1 to be with him! I thought you had more sense than that Sam. I thought you took your responsibilities more seriously."

Sam saw red when he questioned her responsibilities. "I take my responsibilities VERY seriously dad, as you well know. It just happens that my responsibility to providing my child with a mother who comes home each night is more important to me than SG-1."

Jacob looked at her flat stomach. "You're pregnant?" He asked in wonder.

"No." She answered as she saw Jack give a 'who knows' shrug of his shoulders. Sam smiled thinking of their activities earlier in the evening. "Well, not that I know of anyway." She said quietly as she looked at Jack lovingly.

"Then what the hell are you talking about?" Jacob demanded.

Sam turned to Jack. "Why don't you head over to Janet's while I explain to dad." Sam said as she leaned into his comforting embrace.

"You sure?" He asked looking into her eyes.

"Yeah."

"You know Cassie isn't going to be real happy with us for coming early."

"We'll make it up to her. By the time you get back things should be calmer around here." Sam said pointedly looking at her father.

"Don't bet on it." Jacob said giving his daughter his most threatening look. "As for you Jack I expected better of you than running off to Janet's and leaving Sam to deal with this. While the thought of you sleeping with my daughter makes me angry in ways you can't even imagine, at least I used to respect you as a man."

Jack rethought the plan for him to pick up Rachel, he really didn't want to leave Sam to deal with her father alone while he was in this mood.

"Go Jack. I'll be fine." Jack dropped a quick kiss on her lips.

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

Sam watched as he left the room and rounded on her father and sighed. This was definitely not how either she or Jack had envisaged this evening ending.

"Coffee dad? Oh sorry, forgot about Selmak not liking it. Tea?"

"Yeah, tea would be good." Jacob sighed and sat at the kitchen bench and watched in silence as Sam moved around the kitchen preparing the tea. Eventually the silence became too much and he knew he had to say something. "Sam what the hell are you doing with your life?" Sam sighed.

"Dad look at me." Jacob glanced at his daughter. "No. Really look at me." Sam watched as her father truly looked at her for the first time since arriving unannounced. She looked happy. In fact she looked happier and more content than he could ever remember seeing her. Surely Jack O'Neill couldn't be responsible for this?

"He makes you happy." Jacob said quietly.

"He does." Sam said simply. "Dad the reason Jack and I didn't get our memories back when we first returned from that planet, well, the truth is, I don't think we wanted to. Jonah and Thera were happy in a way Jack and Sam never thought they could be. Plus there was a small complication."

Jacob grew concerned at her mention of a complication. George had said she was fine, maybe there was something wrong with Jack. "Sam whatever it is we can deal with it." He said gently as he held her hand.

Sam smiled. "I promise this was a very good complication. Dad, Jack and I have a six week old daughter."

Jacob sat there staring at her for ages before he finally spoke. "Did you just say you have a daughter?"

Sam grinned at him widely. "Yep. That's why Jack has gone to Janet's, to pick her up."

"Why was she at Janet's?" He frowned hoping there was nothing medically wrong that required her to be at the doctors.

As if reading his mind Sam spoke. "She is fine. Perfect in fact." She reassured her father. "She was there because Jack proposed tonight." Suddenly Jacob looked around and saw the remains of their dinner on the table and the snuffed out candles and the compromising position he had found them in and buried his head in his hands.

"God Sam I am so sorry."

Sam patted her father's hand. "It' s fine, a bit embarrassing, but fine." She smiled at him and he knew her words were sincere.

"I take it you said yes?" He asked and watched as his smiling daughter nodded. Just then they heard the front door opening.

"Is it safe to come in?" Jack called as he entered the house juggling the baby and as much of her gear as he could manage.

"In the kitchen." Sam called.

Jack dumped the gear in the hall and whispered to the wide awake baby. "Time to meet your grandpa baby girl."

Jack wandered into the kitchen and went straight over to Jacob. "Jake, meet your granddaughter. Rachel, this is your grandpa." Jack carefully placed his daughter in the older mans arms.

Jacob fell instantly in love. She looked just like Sam had as a baby, yet there were parts of Jack in her too. He couldn't take his eyes off her. He didn't see Jack move to Sam's side and wrap her in his arms and kiss her.

"She is just perfect." Jacob whispered reverently.

"We think so." Jack smiled proudly.

"Produce a few more like this one and I might just forgive you for what I caught you doing to my baby girl earlier tonight." Jacob smiled.

"Dad!"

"What do you think we were working on Jake." Jack said knowing he and Sam had his blessing.


	21. Chapter 21

**First off I am so sorry about the delay in updating - a combination of holidays and witers block. Anyway this will be the final chapter but there will be a short epilogue coming. It is a very fluffy end to a story that started very angsty so thanks everyone for hanging in there waiting for Sam and Jack's happy ending - I hope this meets expectations.**

"What exactly are you doing?" Sam asked as she walked into the living room and saw her husband of three days rummaging through the open boxes of wedding presents that still littered the floor while their daughter looked on from her bouncer next to him.

"Oh hey. Did we wake you?"

"No but a fairly urgent need to feed your daughter did." Sam moved further into the room and bent to pick up the baby. As Rachel saw her mother's face she broke into a massive gummy smile. Sam smiled back, this was something she would never tire of. She sat down and began nursing. "So why exactly are you going through the wedding presents at this time of the morning?"

"Well Rachel woke up and I may have mentioned to her that Uncle Daniel gave us the entire Simpsons collection on BluRay as a wedding present and she insisted I find them so we could watch together from episode 1."

Sam raised her eyebrow at her husband while she changed Rachel to the other side. "Let's start with the fact that our daughter is only three months old and has no vocabulary to speak of and then we can move on to the fact that I'm pretty sure the card Daniel gave us said that the Simpsons discs were for you however, the BluRay player was mine to use as I saw fit and let's finish with the fact that we are on our honeymoon which we are spending at home because the airport is closed due to bad weather."

Jack looked at his wife and realised she was actually grumpy. This was a side of Carter he had never really seen. Sure he'd seen her sleep deprived, out of sorts and upset but he could not for the life of him recall seeing her just plain grumpy.

"You okay?" He asked with genuine concern.

"No I'm not okay, I'm supposed to be on a tropical island making love to my new husband and instead I am going to spend my one week off work stuck inside at home!"

"Yeah but at least your stuck inside with me so we can still do the making love part." Jack said sweetly while wiggling his eyebrows.

Sam handed the now full Rachel to Jack stomped back to their room. Jack grinned, his beautiful brilliant wife just stomped off to their bedroom like a surly teenager. He wisely abandoned his Simpsons search and followed her with Rachel in his arms. As he approached their room he decided to try and snap her out of this funk.

"Time to work your magic on your mama beautiful girl". He carefully placed Rachel in a standing position in the doorway, his large hands tucked under her arms and supporting her head, while he kept himself hidden behind the doorframe.

"Hey mommy, daddy says you're cranky." Jack said in a baby voice.

Sam looked up and saw her three month old 'standing' in the doorway and apparently 'talking' to her and suddenly she started laughing. "Get in here you idiot."

"Awww mommy don't call daddy an idiot, he just likes to hear you laugh". Jack moved from behind the door and 'walked' Rachel into the room.

Sam leaned forward and lifted Rachel into her arms and nuzzled her neck, breathing in her sweet baby smell. "Mission accomplished." He said as she grinned at him.

Jack sat on the edge of the bed. "You wanna tell me about it?"

"No." Sam said succinctly.

"Sam?"

"Fine! The entire time you have known me I have been going off world." Sam looked at her husband.

"Yeah so?"

"So, women who go off world have certain shots every three months. Since I'm not going off world and we want to make another one of these," she gently nuzzled Rachel again earning another gummy smile. "I haven't had the shot". She looked up at jack who still looked slightly lost.

"Jack! I'm not on any kind of birth control."

Finally Jack caught on. "So this is PMS?"

"Ugh." Sam spoke to Rachel. "Your father can be dense at times sweet girl but I promise he truly is a very intelligent man." She turned to Jack. "Yes okay, I'm human and I get PMS." She snapped.

"Sooooooo I should have chocolate and cookies and cream ice-cream on hand around the first week of the month?"

Sam looked at him startled that he would know her monthly vices.

"I may be dense Sam but I have loved you for a long time – trust me you still got PMS when you were on birth control – I've just never been this up close and personal with it." Jack told her.

"Jack O'Neill I love you!" Sam exclaimed as she leaned forward and kissed him.

"Rachel," Jack said as he took his daughter and placed her in the crib beside the bed, "I suggest you go to sleep because I am about to do unspeakable things to your mother in the name of making a sibling for you and I would hate to scar you for life."

Once Rachel was happily tucked into the crib, Jack turned and literally jumped on his wife.

"Jack!" Sam squeaked.

"Shhhhh you'll wake the baby." Jack grinned as he began to nibble on Sam's earlobe, something he had learned she could never resist.

An hour later Jack rolled slightly so he could check that Rachel was still sleeping, once he was assured she was still peacefully in dreamland he rolled back so he could watch Sam sleeping. The movement must have woken her. "Hey." She murmured.

"Hey yourself." Jack stroked the hair off her face, loving that she hadn't cut it when they regained their memories.

"Watchya looking at?"

"You."

"Why?" She drawled.

"Just can't get enough of looking at my beautiful wife Mrs O'Neill."

Sam turned and looked at him. "Do you mind that I'm not changing my name at work?"

Jack had learned early on that Carter's mind was wired slightly different to the rest of the world and the jump from his calling her Mrs O'Neill to not changing her name at work was not expected but not exactly surprising either.

"Sam you are going to make Colonel in the near future – two of us roaming around the base will just get damn confusing."

Sam looked surprised. "You think I'm going to make Colonel?"

"Nope." He dropped a light kiss on her forehead. "I _know_ you're going to make Colonel and I would put money on you making General."

"Well Colonel, whether I make general or not is not as important to me at the moment as making another baby and I believe someone told me they were old and would need a lot of practice – care to follow through on that?"

Jack smiled widely. "With pleasure Mrs O'Neill."

"Oh I hope so."


	22. Epilogue

**Well here it is, the last bit of Jonah and Thera's story. Thank you so much to everyone who has come along for this ride, I have really enjoyed hearing form everyone who left a review and, even if you didn't, the fact that you took the time to read has meant a lot to me.**

"Jack can you get the cake?" Sam O'Neill called to her husband.

"Sorry got my hands full with the other guest of honour." Jack walked out of the house with one year old Hannah in his arms.

"Hey there birthday girl, did you have a good nap?" Sam asked, taking her daughter in her arms.

"I am the birthday girl too mommy." Two year old Rachel announced.

"Yes you are sweetheart, you an Hannah are both birthday girls." Jack often joked about their Irish twins. With Hannah being born two days before Rachel's first birthday, she had obviously been conceived sometime around their wedding.

They had a big party planned for the girls tomorrow with all their family and friends in attendance but today was just for the four of them.

"Today is also a celebration for mommy too." Jack addressed his eldest daughter.

"S'not mommy's birthday. She had hers, we gived her stars for her ears and a moon."

Jack and Sam shared a smile at their daughters interpretation of Sam's birthday gifts of diamond earrings and a very belated honeymoon.

"No it's not mommy's birthday but mommy got an important promotion at work so we need to celebrate that."

"Jack we really don't. The girls don't care that I got a promotion."

"They may not realise the importance of it now but I am really proud of you and as they grow up they are going to be proud of how much their mother has achieved too."

Sam sighed knowing it wasn't an argument she was likely to win. "Just go get the cake."

"Yes ma'am." Jack saluted her and went to get the cake.

"Why'd daddy call you ma'am mommy?"

"Because he was being silly." Sam placed a gentle hand on her daughter's cheek and not for the first time wondered at how lucky she was. An adoring husband who currently trained new recruits and organised his schedule in such a way that he was always able to pick the girls up from daycare on the the three days she worked. Two beautiful daughters and a secret she had yet to tell her husband about. It had taken time but she now realised that the parts of her that were Thera didn't have to be denied to still be Sam. Jack had shown her that she could mix Sam's drive and ambition with Thera's softer, nurturing side and the mix meant she could be happy and fulfilled.

"Daddy is always silly."

"I resemble that!" Jack said as he walked out the house with a huge chocolate cake in his hands. "And I will have you know beautiful girl that the reason I called your mother ma'am is because she is now the same rank as me and also cos, well, she's the boss around here." Jack placed the cake on the table and leaned in to kiss his wife.

"And just you remember it!" Sam laughed.

"Let's get this triple celebration underway!" Jack announced.

Sam looked at him slightly sheepishly. "Actually it's a quadruple celebration."

"What's droople?" Their ever inquisitive daughter asked.

"It means four. We have four things to celebrate." Sam explained not daring to look at Jack knowing he would be wearing that perplexed look she found so endearing.

"My birthday and Hannah's birthday and you being the boss of daddy and what else?" Rachel asked.

Sam couldn't help but laugh at her daughter's interpretation of what her promotion meant. "Well I thought we should celebrate the new baby."

"I already said Hannah." Rachel said.

Sam finally looked at Jack and saw the grin on his face and she relaxed. They hadn't exactly discussed or planned another child and she certainly hadn't thought to have another one so soon but clearly mother nature had other ideas.

"Really?"

"Really." She smiled at him

"You okay about it?" He asked, after all she had just been promoted and had been talking about working another day a week.

"I'll confess I was pretty surprised when Janet told me yesterday, but yeah I'm happy. What about you? Things will probably have to change a bit around here."

"I am more than okay and I think having three kids under three is a worthwhile reason to finally retire permanently."

"Retire? Jack you don't have to do anything that drastic, we'll work something out, I was thinking of maybe getting a nanny and probably looking at a bigger house. I certainly don't expect you to give up a job you love." Sam said passionately.

Jack grasped Sam's hand. "I do love my job, I don't deny it but I love our family more. I don't want our kids being looked after by a nanny, not when I want to do it."

"Well, we have about six months before we have to make any decisions, let's just leave it for a while and then we can look at all our options."

Jack smiled at his adorable, control freak of a wife who liked to think about every problem from at least thirty different angles and for the next six months he would play along with all the different scenarios she would come up with and then in the end he would hand in the retirement papers he'd had sitting in his locker for the last six years.


End file.
